AC was not as cold, fixed?

Quick story here. I like to share my experience, and have a sort of public journal. My 2016 Tacoma has been not blowing as cold AC as I'd like. Still cold, but takes much longer to cool than normal, even with new cabin filter. The blower is fine, as it was replaced early on as part of a breakage recall. Dealership wanted $275 to recharge the system, and at least a couple hundred more to check for leaks, and god knows how much to repair if a leak was present.

I called around, and the shops I wanted to use couldn't service R1234YF refridgerant. However, Firestone said they could. They also said they could do a full AC performance check, including looking for leaks, for about $55. I did that.

They could not find any leaks, and said I had sufficient refridgerant in the system. They said my compressor must be weak, and quoted $2,500 to replace the compressor. I said no thanks, paid the inspection fee and left. As I drove off, I heard a constant hissing sound that would come and go with the AC compressor kicking on. It sounded like there was a leak of some kind inside my dash. it did not go away, so I quickly turned around, and asked what was causing this sound. They spent a couple more hours, and found a faulty service port that was leaking. They replaced the port and recharged the system. Now, it SEEMS like it is cooling a little better than it was before all this happened.

I am grateful that Firestone didn't charge me for the additional work they did, which probably included the service port, and some additional R1234YF to recharge it. But, I am a bit concerned that their original diagnosis was overblown, and maybe that was all I needed to begin with, not a new compressor.

I'm not about to buy the tools and do this kind of AC work myself, so I can't pass too much judgement here. I am just glad it's fixed for now. Time will tell if the fix holds.

 

So they did a thing and maybe it’s working better, maybe not.

I guess you should be happy they didn’t charge you more.

 

I’m excited for episode 2.

 

What about Season 2?

 

Season 2?