Out of warranty AC issues

Thats a crazy price assuming they R+R the refrigerant anyway with the TSB.
(It would help to know the TSB number (contents))

That's just a dealership's way of recouping some costs for warranty work. They will bill Toyota who doesn't pay much for the TSB work and bill you for an unrelated issue. System already empty so a $0.50 oring fixes the supposed leak 100%. Might not even be a leak.
An old dealership trick.
A good dedicated A/C shop would charge you less than $75 to R+R that oring

 

I will make sure to decline them. They have had my truck for over a week. Almost 2 weeks.

 

I just got the pictures

 

What should i do? If this repair is indeed cheaper elsewhere, i will tell the dealer to pound sand.

 

I said no.

Here is the breakdown:
Labor is $689 (3 hours at $229.57/hr)
Parts is $22
Total w/ tax: $716.35

 

Adding fuel to the fire now..

I am being told the following:

"The tech can't charge the a/c, the O-ring needs to be replaced before the system can be charged"

i am still going back and forth with her on this now

 

So I'm not a mechanic so take everything I say with a grain of salt.

I just had this TSB done on my truck and my dealership replaced the o-rings as part of the TSB without any extra charge per the paperwork I just received.

 

Would you be able to send me a copy of that as a precedent? Maybe it can help.

 

The person said it is the condenser Oring is leaking, but the evaporator one is the one they replace. So i am not sure anymore.

 

Just sent you a message with a copy. There are two different o-rings parts listed on my invoice, not sure which one corresponds with which.

I just got home from picking up my truck and so far, no noise. I did notice a bit of a rattle in my dash BUT I have a lot of rocks and crap in my truck (I'm a geologist) so I'm going to get everything cleared out and hope that it's not related to the repair.

I also noticed my passenger airbag off indicator isn't lit up anymore. I cannot for the life of me remember if it's always been that way or if it was illuminated prior to this. It did show on when I sat in the passenger seat, though.

 

Thanks for getting that to me, i think the part number i am looking at for O-ring is a different one.

 

I finally got my truck back today. I originally dropped it off night box on June 30th.

They replaced the O-ring for free instead of charging me the $700+

 

Good lord.

 

Good! I'm glad it worked out for you! I hope everything is fixed!

 

I wanted to update this and maybe get some advice as it's still kind of ongoing.

The good news is that I did get the new evaporator installed per the TSB mentioned earlier in this topic, and that seems to have fixed the high pitched whistling noise. Toyota covered most of the repair.

The bad news is that now I have a dashboard rattle that definitely was not there before this repair was done. The rattle itself sounds like it's coming from inside the dash, like a piece of plastic flapping around. I've pushed on the exterior of the dash in various places trying to see if that helps, but no luck there. I've already had it back at the dealership to have that fixed, they adjusted some pieces and installed foam padding.

It's still making a rattle noise, though...

So my next question is, has anyone who has had their evaporator replaced dealt with a dashboard rattle after the fact? And if so, how did you go about resolving it? I realize that's a hard question to answer since dashboards are probably complex and what rattles in someone else's dashboard is likely not what's rattling in mine. But it's worth a shot at asking, I suppose.

I'm at the point where I'm ready to cut my losses and just accept my truck is going to rattle... If I add up all the time my truck has been at the dealership since this started, it's been about 30 days total lol...

 

I know it’s a hassle, but the work should be warrantied too, so tell to keep it until they fix it this time. Also ask for a loaner, so they have motivation to finish it in a timely manner.
I believe replacing the evaporator is labor intensive job, and many items need to be removed and reinstalled to replace it. They got paid for that time, they should do it right. They’re probably trying to avoid disassembly at all costs, but they should’ve done it right the first time.

 

Really appreciate your response. My husband is of the opinion that it won't get any better so it's time to cut our losses since if we take it back, we'll be at over 30 days total in the shop at this point since this all started at the end of June.

I'm of the opinion that I brought it in without a rattle; therefore, I should expect to get it back without a rattle. But I'm starting to think I'm being unreasonable which is why I desperately needed another opinion from an outside source, preferably someone who also owns a Tacoma lol.

Anyways, fingers crossed it gets fixed. This will be the fourth time it's been brought back to the shop, so here's hoping they're sick of me and will fix it right

 

I agree with you! You shouldn't have to deal with a rattle they caused. I would call them and make sure they have a loaner for you,, at this point they should be providing one.

 

Ya 100% bring it back for the rattle until it's fixed... when I was an apprentice I fit the dash back wrong on a Denali that I pulled it on to replace the Holographic heads up display projector... you bet your ass I was doing the job again for free to sort out the rattle. It paid 9 hours to do it the first time... I basically worked a day for free because I messed up the first time. However as much as that sucked, obviously it was the right thing to do for the customer, the business and, for myself as it provides a tap on the shoulder to pay attention the first time

 

Well, you won’t do that again.