A/C not cooling well

I should preface this post by saying I have a black double cab but feel this should cool better on a hot day than my 21-year-old black dodge Dakota.
So, last week temp outside was 99* truck had been outside. Ran a couple of errands at my last stop I had been waiting for someone to meet me. The truck inside the truck started to increase and got to the point where it didn't even cool. After letting it sit a couple of hours it was fine. This is the second time this summer where I have noticed this.

I looked over the lines and did not see any area of concern. Has anyone else had this problem as well? TIA

 

Did you change your cab filter?
I recommend a OEM, some "cheaper" ones will not flow air as well.

Watch out for "Toyota" filters that are on line,.... a majority of them are counterfeit with "Toyota" packaging.
https://youtu.be/FVA4RYql9KU

 

Gonna sound funny, but turn it down a notch, so it's not working overtime.

 

I used a fram in cabin filter. Reviews seemed mostly positive and definitely was not very thick.

 

Depending on what year is your taco there's a tsb on it. Not cooling on 100f plus temps

 

It’s a 2020. First summer I’ve owned it. I’m not sure how the Toyota dealership will be to work with. I’ll have to look into the tsb good to be armed with some knowledge when dealing with any service advisor.

 

Is it happening in traffic and or slow driving in the city?
It may be an air flow situation, I read somewhere where this is a known issue (in other cars as well)
Toyota has a fan that can be added to solve the problem.
Ask a EXPERIANCED tech about it, Toyota makes the fan, and it is a bolt on fix.

 

If you have less than 36,000 miles on the truck or it is less than 3 years old, you will be covered for having Toyota install an electric fan in front of the Condenser in your grill to help the AC stay cooler when driving slow or idling. Bring this up to the service advisor if they do not know what you are talking about:
https://static.nhtsa.gov/odi/tsbs/2020/MC-10181775-9999.pdf

Some people (like me) find the Toyota work plan called for in the TSB to put in a fan was to complex for something so simple (read the bulletin), it calls for many parts to be removed and reassembled, especially the dashboard and wiring parts, so we elected to do the fan installation ourselves using a much simpler installation that does not require removing and modifying parts. It can be as simple as attaching a fan in front of the condenser and running a line to the cab with a on/off switch. You can read about all that here:

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads...-ambient-temperatures-anyone-doing-it.582605/

 

^This is it^

 

Have you tried running your system on auto. Works great for me and it get so cold fast that I have to shut it off. Same when remote starting the truck in the heat with system on auto is like walking into a freezer. just saying.

 

From his disruption of "errands and waiting in 99-degree temps" it would seem he fits the fan program

 

I am still in the 3yr/36mo warranty period. I’m sure it is an airflow issue, has only been a problem at lower speeds.

Thanks everyone for all the great info. I appreciate all the help. What a great community of people here.

 

This happens on many cars, trucks, and even in my semi (Volvo VNL).

The condenser is icing up which stops the air from coming through. If you are using the air conditioner in very humid air, it can happen very quickly. The condenser basically de-humidifies the air, creating condensation which in turn becomes ice. The easiest “fix” is to recycle the already de-humidified air from the cabin.

When you mentioned it worked fine after letting it sit for a couple of hours, the “puddle of water” under your vehicle must have been bigger and lasted longer than usual.

 

Good luck- use the exact terms in the TSB when reporting the issue, some service centers are denying the work for stupid reasons like couldn’t replicate the issue. Be sure to bring it to them on a friggen hot day so their testing will pass.

 

It’s funny when people say to turn it down, to warm it up.

 

You got the parts names mixed up- the condenser is outside in front of the radiator, it’s the evaporator that gets cold inside the cabin.

Evaporators can certainly ice up, I had to run the heater to occasionally defrost mine in my old Bronco. But the issue with this problem he’s having is the condenser has low airflow when idling or driving slow and is not cooling off the hot refrigerant well enough to make the system work, so the electric fan up front helps do that.

 

True. Thanks for clearing that up for me.

I just got up, came home late last night after being on the road for 27 days. Lesson learned, have a coffee before posting

 

They installed mine with no questions asked , all I did was bring up the tsb and they ordered the parts

 

Long haul? I feel for you!!

 

You know what’s weird though? Why does this issue only happen to some Tacomas and not others? I wonder if there’s a flaw in how the condensers were made, or how the AC system was assembled, and maybe some condensers have clogged lines in them and are not as efficient as others? If this is the case , the fan installation must be a lot cheaper than replacing a condenser for Toyota.

I suspect this because I recently had to replace my condenser due to damage (don’t ask how, let’s just say it was an accidental hole that caused it to leak ), anyways instead of buying a Toyota OEM one, I bought an aftermarket one and have not really had to run my electric fan as often or even at all like I used to with my other OEM condenser.