A/C system efficiency not so great. flush? electric fan?

What about installing an electric fan and have it relayed to turn on with the ac? Think this would help a lot but not sure if it's practical..

 

It wont help until you get the air conditioning system fixed. You seem to want to throw money in a direction that is totally wrong.

Spend an evening watching vehicle air conditioning repair vids. The info is out there and pretty easy to find.

 

I was just wondering for a future mod. After I look into fixing the system Seems like an electric fan, even a small one, would help a ton at idle or low speeds. Was thinking of this a while back. Saw some pretty cheap fans. Just to test and see how it does then possibly look into an own type fan from a different vehicle, that would fit. Idk. Just a thought.

 

electric fans have there places, sure, but we need to make sure the rest of the system is right first. this means radiator, water pump and the air conditioning system. I would spend the money on diognosing the a/c system way before I would spend a dime on an expensive, hope fix.

I've seen e fans installed on 4 cylinder trucks, but these were all dedicated trail/rock ckumbing machines. they needed the e fans because the trucks never got up to xway speeds. your truck, running at 55 mph is getting more air than any e fan can supply. our mechanical fans are the best for almost all driving conditions and they have the capacity to supply all the fresh, cool air your truck and a/c system needs.

e fans will give you a much quieter cold start, the mechanical fan on our trucks is spinning hard when truck is first started, this is why all toyota trucks sound so loud at first start of the day. e fans may give you 1 mpg better economy. e fans may give you more low end tourque, but at the risk of heat soaking the engine until the coolant sensor kicks in the e fan. these advantages are not enough for me to spend the $400 plus to get a reliable e fan. just not worth it, especially when the truck has everything it needs to keep both systems cool right from the factory.

 

You said you recently charged it from near empty -- do you know where the refrigerant is leaking from?

 

Well, I drained it slowly manually. Just didn't wanna say it as it's frowned upon, lol. Figured it was worth a shot to put fresh Freon in. Guess not.

And for the electric fan, I was talking about just simply ADDING a push fan in front of the condenser... And keeping the clutch fan on. Not sure if that'd interfere. Again I've seen cheapo circular fans that I wanted to just try and see if it'd help. If not just return it.

Not looking to get the whole dual electric fan kit for sure .

 

Water boils under a vacuum so you are eliminating moisture when you vacuum the system. You must vacuum the system anytime a component is replaced, the system has been opened, or the system has been completely evacuated.

I would stay away from those parts stores R134A recharge kits. There is no way to accurately charge the system. Undercharging the system will affect performance & overcharging it can destroy the compressor.

You need a set of gauges on the high and low side to see how the system is performing.

Considering you are in 110 degree temps, cutting that in half isn't too shabby.

 

Alrighty. Well thanks for all the info. I'm gonna go ahead and try blowing out the condenser and radiator with the compressor. Wash it out too. Then see what happens. Like I said it isn't horrible. Just thought it should be working better. I'm not gonna throw more money into Freon by emptying and refilling it yet again. If anything I'll take it in to have it flushed and refilled. Just gotta find a reputable place. Don't trust big o. Maybe Napa. They got a shop at my location.

 

Toendanger, Have you watched those videos yet?

 

No I kinda can't right now. Limited on phone data and no home internet atm:/ But I will. I think some of you may be right on saying my system is working pretty good.. At peak efficiency? Maybe not. But I'm gonna try the cheapest route for now, which is an electric fan install in front of condenser. I found some good fans with good reviews on Amazon pretty cheap. Gotta take some measurements and see what size I can fit in there. Hopefully it'll give me just the boost I need to keep cool. If not I'll return the fan and delve deeper into this.

 

Has any vehicle had much success with that? The idea seems to make sense but how much more air will you be blowing across the condenser then what the clutch fan already is?

 

All I'm expecting/hoping for with the fan is a little more efficiency at low speed and idling. If I can accomplish that then it'll be enough for me Again I'm not looking to spend a shit ton of money to get a few more degrees out of it. I just want it to be a little more efficient. Taking it in and flushing it or getting new parts will be a last resort and/or if it fails.

Like I said I'm gonna try cleaning out the condenser, maybe it's clogged with dust and dirt, but kinda doubt it.. Then maybe pull the evaporator and clean that. And install the fan.

 

If you pull the evaporator, wont you have to drain/refill the system?

All this talk about the fan clutch has me thinking of another mod. Im curious if I can find a way to prevent my fan from spinning, ideally, with a switch. I need to do some reasearch as to what type of clutch fan the 3.4L uses. I dont think its electronically controlled.. Im not at home so i cant go out and look at my truck.

 

Yeah pretty sure it'll have to be refilled. That's why the evaporator will be last. If it comes to that. At that point I'll be looking into the flush and whatnot.

 

What would a flush do? What do they flush it with?

 

Right about now? The only flush you are gonna hear is your money going down the tube.

Unsubscribing, this is just too painful.

 

why are you charging it in the first place? You clearly shouldn't be as you don't seem to really know what you are doing. Those little cans are for suckers, especially the one with the stupid little guage that doesn't work. You are probably using those little cans with refrigerant oil in them, now the system is full of oil and mostly way overcharged, plus how are you "draining" the system? If I worked on it, I would charge you double for working on it yourself. There is no reason to ever be charging the a/c system unless it NEEDS to be fixed from a leak or failure. Seems you also have no idea how a flush works, so good luck. Also, many vehicle DO NOT have the sticker indicating the amount of refrigerant in the system anymore. That stopped years ago, kinda like Toyota design and engineering

 

that was a good laugh

OP should really take the vehicle to a reputable AC shop and have them properly charge the system & check for correct operation.

You can clean the condenser with a hose to get any debris that may have built up over time -- same as you would do for a yearly house out side unit.

 

First of all, the first thing I asked about was if a flush would help. Obviously I don't know how it works. Seeing as no one explained to me what it does. Second, I'm not sure if it has a leak or not. It appeared to be a little low. That's why I went ahead and charged it after draining what little was left. It's not enough of a leak to worry about like someone else stated as it's super slow and could use a can before the summer months. I'm not gonna tackle my whole ac sysytem for a problem that may not exist. Again I've already checked for leaks with no luck. Third, the cans with gauges , some are cheap yes. But I've got one that has worked before and worked as a quick fill this time. Didn't feel the need to bust out the whole kit with fancy gauges and lines just to fill it up with a can of Freon... Everyone seems to think there's this huge problem with my system. I'll admit there's some things I don't understand, but I certainly am not being ignorant to your suggestions. But I will say that I'm not gonna break down and basically rebuild my system and start replacing parts and buy all these fancy tools to get the job done once. I'd rather take it somewhere and get it done if that's the case. I was looking for suggestions on simple things to check myself. Such as cleaning the condenser or evaporator. And if an added efan would help and if it'd be worth a shot. I've done the evaporator on a t100 I had and it was dirty as hell. I reinstalled and filled (with those cheap gauges mind you) and all was golden. So I know a little bit. But am still a noob. So thanks for all the input and suggestions. Although, no one has actually had any input on the flush. Which is what I was wondering about to begin with. Not sure what that does or if it helps. Or if it's worth it. Thought it might be like a scheduled maintenance type thing, or maybe just a good idea to get done but sounds like no one's suggesting that so... Guess I'll move on. Since I can't get any input on my ideas, other than your wonderful stabs at my supposed ignorance, I'll look elsewhere than TW for this one Thanks guys..

 

Yes, an electric fan will help -- cleaning the condensor will also help with efficiency.

Take it to a shop & have them inject the UV dye. Drive it for the summer, periodically checking for the leak. The dye is a fluorescent green, almost hi-liter yellow dye that you will be able to see where it is leaking from. It could be as simple as a loose shraider valve or o-ring.

A flush will remove any oil & contaminants from the system. This will require you to recover the refrigerant, flush the system, vacuum the system & then properly charge the system.

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