AC not as cold as I expect

First off, I'm not expecting Antarctica.
But I'm curious if my AC system had degraded in performance over the 17 years of it's existence. Of which, I've owned it for all of the last two months.

I did do a basic Pep Boys AC recharge when I bought the truck. But I feel like it struggles to keep up on these 100° Carolina days.

Condenser maybe? Thoughts?

 

Stick a thermometer in the vent and see what your getting, the A/C in a 2nd gen is adequate at best on hot days especially if you have a double cab.

Mine struggles to get 60 degrees out the vents in town and sitting still on 95+ degree days but going down the highway it will get down to 40, some people add condenser fans to help low speed cooling.

Check your cabin air filter as well, if it's plugged it will dramatically decrease A/C performance.

 

I do have a double cab, so there's twice as much volume to cool down as a single cab. I understand that limitation.

Dumb question, where is the cabin air filter? I've already been behind the glovebox; where I would expect to find it. Unless I completely missed it.

 

Behind a little flap behind the glovebox.

 

Thanks gents! It's 1:30am here.
I'll have to go hunt for it in the (later) morning

 

I never had to mess with my truck, but my Camry might have a small leak. It wasn't cooling well a couple of years ago. I watched a couple of Youtube videos, bought cheap but perfectly adequate ac manifold gauge set from Harbor Freight, added a can of 134a refrigerant making sure pressures look right, and it blows nice and cool now. If your refrigerant pressure is too low you might need to add some. If you keep having to do that, there is probably a leak. My Camry is holding well so far, but if I have to add refrigerant again I'll break down and will try to trace the leak. There are several youtube videos on how to do that as well. The main issue for me now is Washington State just banned 134a refrigerants (as in - you can now longer buy them in a store yourself as of this year), but fortunately I stocked up a few cans (and it sounds like they will still be selling it in farm supply stores even under the new laws). They said EPA will probably ban sale of 134a to general public in the entire country pretty soon.

 

Of course the EPA will ban it, that’s where we are today… I better stop there or else

 

Remember, the gas doesn’t disappear, it goes somewhere. That somewhere path it’s a leak in the system. Cheers!

 

The A/C on my 2013 Tacoma double cab has always been marginal, and I bought the truck new. I live in CO, so luckily it rarely gets very hot. Could not imagine it keeping up if I lived in AZ. The A/C on my 2000 F-150 could freeze meat, no idea why this one is poor.

 

My 05 Perunner did NOT have a cabin filter.
I don’t think they put them in all the early 2nd Gens.

Imagine my surprise when I found out my 07’ had one.
It was bad, really bad. Full of leaves.

 

Yea seems like I've read that too but I'm pretty sure the slot is still there, wouldn't hurt to put one in if there's not one in there.

 

It can’t hurt. The only vehicle I ever bought new was that 05’.
I didn’t add a filter, but to be honest. I never owned a vehicle that had one.
So I just never thought about it again.

Not until I went to the dealership for the spiral cable recall.
That’s when the guy told me I really need to change my cabin filter.
I declined at their price, but now I know I got one.

 

Put a kitchen thermometer in the dash vent, of you're in the 40s that might be as good as it gets. Raise it off idle to help the compressor and fan speed

It's always going to be colder when driving. More heat exchange at the condenser and higher compressor speeds make a difference


Spray the condenser with a hose and see if it helps. If it does look into a new condenser or check the fan clutch

Are you confident the pep boys guy got the charge amount correct?

 

Does this video apply to a 2014 also? Probably going to need to change my filter soon also.

 

Yes 05-15 cabin filters are all in the same spot, should be changed at least once a year.

 

Most auto AC should be blowing at 40-50 degrees, figure your vent temps should be 20 degrees colder than the interior temp you want.
My 2015 has what I would consider strong A/C, I live in South Carolina so it’s hot here.
A good window tint can also make a big difference, and you don’t need to run a ‘limo dark’ tint. There’s some good films that reflect UV rays while still giving good visibility.