Complete AC redo?

I used to be on this forum a long time ago but have been gone from DIY for ages 'cause I only drive 2k a year and basically nothing needed fixed that I could do at home beyond basic oil and plugs etc. I'm still on original tires, LOL.

The AC leaked a long time ago and I couldn't afford to get it fixed at a shop and thought I couldn't DIY so used leak sealer and it held for 5 years before leaking again and since I'm staying home mostly why not? I threw in a can of sealer and a can of 134 to see what's happening and everything was going good until I switched off and then went back later to run into town and the compressor locked up, smoking belt rubber stink, flashing AC lamp. Kicking Self
My Q's are
1. OK, I probably never should have used AC super seal, but it did hold for years, my thought is I'll never find the leak on this 15yr old truck so might as well replace everything.
2. Anyone have a recommendation on a decent priced kit source? same for the evap which doesn't seem to come with any of the kits.
I have watched the available videos and everything seems pretty basic except the evap which is very very tedious but not rocket science. I'm thinking I should do the heater core too, and the dash lamps.
I'm over 70 so please don't beat me up too bad, I'm just not as sharp as I once thought I was.
I'll have a shop vac it out when I'm done the mechanicals.

ANY observations or suggestions welcome

 

rockauto

 

A/C "leak sealer" is one of the worst things ever invented, it may seal very small leaks like if your having to recharge like once a year but anything bigger than that it's not gona do much for.
What it is very good at doing is "sealing" the internals of the system and starving the compressor for oil if any air ever gets in the system.

If you do the evaporator and heater core I would stick with OE, aftermarkets never seem to fit correctly.

I would second Rock Auto for parts.

Dash jobs are generally fairly straight forward once you've done a few but can be intimidating if it's your first time.
The tips I would give you are:
Keep everything organized, on each side, and in the order it came out.
Keep track of all connector and ground locations, if in doubt take pictures and/or label them. (I did a Tundra one time and some of the connectors would interchange with each other so beware)
When you take the steering column out do not rotate the wheel and put it back exactly as it was.
Your going to need help removing and installing the main part of the dash and cross brace.
If you post up your truck specs I can post the service procedures.

If you have a 4.0L it would be a good idea to replace the belt tensioner assembly while you have the compressor off if your truck has high miles as the compressor has to be removed to replace it.
Ratcheting wrenches come in handy to get to the compressor bolts.

 

Thank You!

 

There was a recent thread where a member asked about the GDP compressor available at Rock Auto. He was recommended to use OEM but one respondent who went the GDP route had a good experience with the GDP support folks. In any case the price difference wasn't huge.

 

As a older guy who likes to fix things and a former now retired commercial HVAC person, take lots of pictures.

I would do what others suggested on here, replace it all but I would stop at just replacing the metering device they call the expansion valve as I would suspect the crap got caught in its inlet strainer and valve internals. On commercial systems we could change out the filter dryer as many times as needed to clean up the system, with these that can not be done.

The flush kit is a Darn good idea.

 

A good trick for all the connections. When I was a Toyota mechanic and had to do a dash. Everything on left marked L1, L2 etc. then mark the corresponding component the same. Center is C1, C2 etc. , Right is R1, R2 etc. then when you go back together just match them up.

 

I heard the wretched screech of my compressor (or clutch) failing 5 years ago. I rebuilt the entire system under the hood (new condenser, compressor, expansion valve, and o rings) and flushed the lines, but I stopped short of doing anything under the dash. I decided/hoped that any debris from my failure did not contaminate the under dash components and wasn’t interested in the disassembly. The rebuilt AC has been working great ever since.

 

Some good info here
https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/a-c-light-blinking.107982/page-5#post-26034600