AC work sanity check

Background: This is for a 2015 doublecab V6. I have previous experience replacing an entire ac system on a civic after the compressor sent metal shavings through the whole system, and vacuuming and charging it afterwards.

After noticing a new hissing sound this week when the ac was running and noticing a loss of performance/cooling I found what looks like a refrigerant leak on this hose, which I believe is the discharge hose. (POV drivers side under the bumper looking at the compressor).

My current plan:
1.) Have a shop evacuate the remaining refrigerant.
2.) Go home and replace the hose, and both O-rings.
3.) Borrow the vacuum pump and gauges from autozone again and pull a vacuum and recharge the system.

Is there anything else that I should be replacing as a best practice while I have the system open?
(Filters, exp valve, I've heard the drier is part of the condenser?)

Do I need to add any PAG oil? I don't have the information for how much oil to add when replacing each component. The last time I did AC work the whole system was shot and the new compressor came loaded with all of the oil for the system, so I didn't have to worry about how much oil was in each component that was being replaced.

 

Evacuating refrigerant usually won't remove the oil but best to ask the shop that does it to make sure.

If you want quick and dirty, just replace the hose.

If you want to perform preventative maintenance it may be worth replacing the condenser and checking the filter just prior to the expansion valve.

No "right" answer...just depends on how much time and money you want to spend and how lucky you feel. There are valid arguments for either path.

 

Thanks. I plan on keeping this truck for a long time. Seems like the drier really is in integrated into the condenser so it probably makes sense to replace for the long run. Thanks for the filter location information, I'll read up on it.

 

Post # 6 - Filter location and how to get to it. With Pictures.

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/ac-compressor.796628/#post-28547145

 

Thanks. Easy enough to get to.

Is there a consensus on Toyota vs aftermarket on the condenser and hoses? I'm not seeing denso as an option on denso's website or rockauto, denso's website only lists the expansion valve.

 

Good idea to have fresh oil in the vacuum pump. It’s likely made it around the block once or twice & you want to be able to pull as low a micron level as you can.

 

Thanks. Didn't know that mattered. Definitely didn't pay attention to it last time.

 

Add a little dye when you recharge. Makes finding the next leak a little easier with the aid of a uv light.

 

Follow up:

I got the discharge hose, condenser, small inline filter by the evaporator, and any relevant gaskets that I broke connection on replaced. Took me 3 tries to find a set of manifold gauges from autozone that didn't have bad gaskets that wouldn't hold vacuum. I'll probably just buy some from harbor freight next time. As luck would have it, I finally found a newer store where I was the first one to use the vacuum pump and gauges so the oil was new/unopened.

I added the 1.4oz Pag 46 oil that the condenser replacement called for, then a little extra to account for the leaks on the hose and hoping I'm on the higher side of the oil level tolerance. Put "about 22oz" 134a in and it all seems to be working fine. I say about because while tilting the second refrigerant can the yellow hose going into the manifold gauge cluster unscrewed enough to let a little spew out. That's what tolerances are for I suppose.

The compressor was kicking on when the low side got to around 40-43psi with high around 85psi, and kicking off when the low side was around 22psi and high side got to around 120psi, and it was about 53F outside at the time. No idea if those are good or bad numbers though.

PS: Before I charged anything, I also rented the UV light leak detection kit and looked for any extra leaks...fun fact, if you put the yellow glasses on and shine the battery clamp powered UV light under the truck, leaking lucas front diff gear oil will actually glow with a florescent shine, not as bright as pag oil with dye, but definitely enough to make you scratch your head if it's thick enough, maybe 3/4 as bright as the pag oil, just more yellow than green. The oil is fairly new though.

Now I just need to figure out how to get my front diff rotate down enough to fix the section of short rubber hose at the bottom of the breather line.