A/C randomly stopped working

Ok so question for fellow 2nd Gen Owners. Have you ever had the A/C randomly just cut out and lose power and then blow out smoke? I drive a 2015 V6 TRD Offroad and I was going down the highway here in San Antonio when this happened. Put my foot down to speed up and get around a slow driver holding up traffic and when the engine revved up, my A/C lost most of its power and the indicator light for the A/C started blinking. I shut off the A/C and then turned it back on and it started blowing out smoke from the vents. Took it to the dealership since its under warranty but, they couldn't find anything wrong with it. Anybody got any ideas as to what is wrong with the A/C?

 

This happened to me when I first got my 2010. Truck had less than 100 miles on it. Smoke, blinking a/c light, not cooling. I turned it off and back on, and the past 7 year hasn't happened again. Never figured out what caused it.

 

glad to know I'm not the only one this happened to. Time will tell I guess

 

When you put your foot down, was it WOT? That will cause the ECU to shut off the AC compressor.
Did the 'smoke' smell like smoke, or was it just water vapor?

 

WOT? Sorry not too good with the acronyms of TW yet, and not too sure, should have checked but as soon as it started I shut it off and opened the windows.

 

WOT = Wide Open Throttle

Was your foot smashing the skinny pedal all the way to the floor?

 

Gotcha, and no not all the way, I was between 2500-3000 rpms. I was going about 45ish and was got up to 60ish

 

Which SA dealer told you they could not find anything wrong with it?

 

Cavender Toyota, it's where I bought the truck

 

The refrigerant charge is low. This causes the system to "supercool" and the evaporator coil freezes up with accumulated (and frozen) condensation. The "smoke" is fog caused when humid air that does make it through the evaporator is released into warmer air in the cab--like when you open the freezer in your home.

The greater issue is why the charge in your 2-year-old system is low?

All that said however I have seen this happen in properly charged systems when the ambient humidity is especially high--my '03 Mustang would do it sometimes, shut the AC off for a bit to let the evaporator defrost and all would be well 'til next time the humidity was very high. Running in "recirculation" mode may help...

 

Very much appreciated friend. I will look into recharging it and there's no telling why it's low on charge. I've got less than 40K on it and it's pretty humid here in San Antonio so that might be it. Also I pretty much always run it recirculation mode.

 

Do not only recharge. Have the system fully evacuated and run a vacuum pump on the AC system for 5 mins to pull it down to 28 inches of vacuum and lock it in and shut the pump off. The vacuum should hold at 28 inches for 30 min. If it leaks down then there is a leak. Snoops will find gross leaks and an electronic sniffer will find tiny ones.
I'm seeing a trend with Toyota techs these days and it's not good.

 

In very humid situations it does not take a "lot" of undercharge to cause to the symptom you describe, in fact production tolerances could account for it. If you do not have a gauge set and/or the ability to add a bit bring it to an auto AC specialist--NOT a Toyota dealer. The guys that do nothing but AC all day will know much more about the specifics of your environment.

 

Agreed.

 

Well alright man, thanks for the advice. I'll have to wait till Thursday as I work till Wednesday doing 12 HR shifts

 

I have a 2015 PreRunner - also purchased from them. Trying to get an issue resolved as well. Have been told they must bring in a "Toyota Field Technical Specialist" to resolve. Been waiting over 2 weeks for this "specialist" to arrive.

Take it back and ask to speak to the Fixed Operations Director - a glorified term for the guy who manages parts and service. His name is Dan Warshawer.

 

Looks like I will have a busy Thursday ahead of me. I haven't had any issues since but I will be reaching out to Dan then, thanks for the info!