3rd Gen Tacoma A/C Noise

And the dealer told you....?

 

It's in the shop as we speak. Dropped it off yesterday but no word as of yet.

 

And you had the whistle noise right?

 

Yep. The whistle and the Darth Vader breathing. On my truck they go hand-in-hand.

 

Well, things went about like I expected them to. The dealer has had my truck for one full week, and I received ZERO information about any findings or progress until last night when one of their three service managers emailed me, despite multiple phone calls, emails, and texts. They aren't going to do shit about the A/C issue. The SM told me that he had two of his "Master Technicians" look at the problem, and both agreed that it was the A/C injector pump causing the breathing and whistling noises. He went on to say that "Toyota is aware of this noise but there are no changes to be made presently as the pump is not malfunctioning." In other words, "we're not replacing your injector pump until it breaks and stops working, even though it's making noises that are driving you crazy every time you drive it." What great customer service.

So, it looks like ONCE AGAIN I'm forced to open an incident with Corporate to get any action on this. This is the same dealer that refused to do anything about my front diff needle bearing steering wheel vibration, saying that it was caused by my "wheels and tires", the same wheels and tires that THEY sold me and installed along with my King lift. Work that they fully warranty. I had to send the same service manager documentation about the ECGS bushing fix, and once Corporate got involved they installed the bushing and replaced the needle bearing at no cost to me. SO frustrating! Between my wife and I, we've spent almost $100K with this dealer in the last 3 years (she bought a new 2016 4Runner from them), and I won't be going back to them again when it's time for a new vehicle. What a stupid way to run a business.

 

My 2018 Taco made the whistle noise since I bought it. My Dodge Ram made the same type AC noise. I don't mind it one bit. I wouldn't bother taking it in and having anyone touch the truck. The sound is just another thing...like the sound of the transmission as the RPM's vary.

 

Yep. My 06 and my 17 do it. Nothing to see here, move along.

 

Nope. None of the vehicles I've ever owned (over a dozen) had A/C systems that made these noises, nor does my wife's 2016 4Runner. You guys haven't driven my truck, so you don't know what I'm dealing with. You want to to drive thousands of miles a year listening to this crap? Knock yourselves out.

 

Like I said, both my Tacoma’s do it. It’s when the compressor kicks in. I don’t always notice the whistle and I even took it to the dealer back in 06 and they found no problem. The 17 started doing it not long after I bought it. I don’t have the Darth Vader sound though.

 

Like I said, I've never owned a vehicle in the 45 years I've been driving that sounds like this. Not. A. Single. One. It's not normal, and it's not the compressor.

 

Saw this post a few months back while researching my own issue. It may not be of assistance to you but might help someone out in the future. I had some back into my driver side front quarter hard enough to rock the truck hard( at work so I was out of the vehicle but have it on video). Insurance covered repairs but the day I picked it up I noticed the sighing noise, and a hot day the very next day really sucky A/C performance. Took lot of calling between insurance/body shop/dealership but I got the A/C system checked out. Found out I had .15kg of refrigerant in the system as opposed the the .5kg? that we're supposed to have, which they charged back to normal. I have had no issues since then. It was interesting that I only had issues with the A/C on pickup as it took a long time to get in for repairs(insurance). I honestly suspect body shop mechanic went to empty A/C system thinking the evaporator needed to be removed then realized it didn't. But I can't be sure. Either way, sighing noise for me was = low refreigernt.

 

Yes!! This noise drives me insane. Ridiculous that A $40k truck has this. I swear my 2016 did not do it.

 

I love that intensely

 

That’s what you call complete and total dedication to DIY. Haha

 

Received my 2018 back from the dealership. The shop foreman and other mechanics were able to hear and duplicate the AC noise. Apparently there is a service bulletin regarding this exact issue. I was told that Toyota was working on a fix for it, but currently nothing can be done. Looks like I will have to stay on top of this and follow up in a couple months. Good thing was that I was able to get the issue documented so there isn’t any issues in the future.

 

Getting new AC compressor install. Thanks man!
@smatranga

 

Any updates on a TSB? Mine was in last year for this issue and they failed to fix it. Going back this week for 20K service.

 

No, I was told by the dealership that Toyota is aware of the issue with AC and they are working on a fix. I was told by the dealership it may take a while.

 

Had my truck in for 20k mile service. "We can't reproduce the issue".

How can you possibly *not* reproduce the issue? I can't get it to stop.

I'm giving the service manager a ride in it this afternoon after the temp gets to 95 and the relative humidity to 80%.

 

They probably sat inside your truck for a minute and didn't let it run for a while.