A/C low refrigerant

Hey all,
It's been a minute. I thought I'd update here that my 2018 with less than 20k miles recently had an issue with the A/C. The A/C would blow "cool" on the drivers side but barely cool to room temp on the passenger side, even with max A/C on.

I took it to the dealer and they confirmed it was low on refrigerant and needed to be evaluated and filled to the tune of $393. They did not discover a leak but fed me some BS that somehow the refrigerant can "evaporate" . Anyway they filled it and sent me on my way, cab is now cool.

Just disappointed that a 4 year old truck with low milage/use already has a A/C leak. Wondering if others have had the same issue?

Thanks!

 

Evaporate? Awesome!theres a leak somewhere..

 

I know...

 

does your heater/evaporator box leak on your passenger side carpet?

 

No, never had any issues with water in the cab. I did do the A/C drip line mod when I got the truck, and I actually removed the mod before bringing it in to ensure nothing was blocked. The line was clear so it was an issue with the refrigerant and not condensation back up

 

most of them do on really hot humid days. Both my trucks do it.

 

yea, mine was doing it too. i think it's from cracking windows while running the a/c so it works extra hard and causes condensation. i know it's not good to run a/c like that but it's hot af and i need my nicotine.

 

You have a system leak. One place to check is the compressor...other places are around hose fittings. Look for oil residue.

 

You need to go back and either speak to the dealership's manager or open a case with Toyota Corporate - lying to customers is totally unacceptable. Things do not evaporate out of a sealed system unless there's a leak, and Toyota systems have dye in them from the factory, so all they need to do is spend a few minutes with their UV light and find the leak. My first stop would be the high and low side service ports, followed by connections.

 

My evaporation core went bad on my 2020 last year. They may argue with you about it coz it's apparently a lot of work for them to get in there, but I eventually convinced them to do the work and they confirmed this was the problem.

AC broke, but *MAGIC* and now it's fine

 

Thank you. Unfortunately I am out of warranty on this one.

 

Maybe it'll at least help you track down the issue faster so you can save a little bit on labor. Hope you figure it out!

 

definitely, find leak first!!
Or find leak fast, or you’ll be out more $$!

 

Thank you for posting this link. I read through and checked and it turns out there is oil residue on the high pressure side going into the radiator.

To confirm, this is the A/C line, correct?

 

That looks like a leak to me. I was just going to ask if they did an inspection for leaks. Sounds like they did not. Normal operation for a dealership. Now, I gotta go check my 18.

 

I'm pretty sure that's correct. Looks almost just like the experience @xMaverickx was having.

 

They told me they checked for leaks but I highly doubt it. No mention of leak detection or die in the paperwork, just "evacuate and refill refrigerant."

 

what a bunch of crooks! they did not even perform a simple visual inspection, that is defiantly a sign of freon leaking most likely from a dried out o ring.

 

There are so many shoddy dealerships and techs. We need to have a Dealership Wall of Shame thread and just post all the failures there.

 

If all they did was top the system off, you could have saved about $300 and done it yourself with a $20 tool from autozone and a can of the refrigerant - and they didn’t even fix the obvious leak. Even a complete system vacuum and refill is only $150-200 at a shop. A quick recharge at a shop would still be under $100, and they probably at least would have checked for a leak. Don’t go to the dealer after your warranty is expired for anything unless you like paying 4xs more than you should.