New AC Issues

Just tried that and confirmed it was not blocked. Must just be a low humidity day.

The question is how it got a bit low. Hopefully there will be some tell tales when I look this evening. Also ordered a freon detector to see of I can detect any leakage from the evap or orings by the txv, which neither seems visible. It blew cold last fall, so somehow it lost a few ounces in 6 months. I guess that is a pretty small system. Never had a 1/4 can make a real difference.

 

Well you said there was dye so you'll find out if it comes back.

 

well it hasn’t come back, but got in there with a mirror and found definite evidence of leaks , hidden from what i had cleaned off, either at the oring or the weld. Allso may have some spray pattern to the frame. Have an oring set and new condensor coming tomorrow. I think that the leak is intermittent, maybe based upon hard vibrations like a pothole. But enough evidence that it has leaked and therefore will again. Just realized that i can get to the txv easily,so ordered one as well as i still suspect a temperamental txv is part of the cause of the wandering vent temps. Not sure, but worth $20 to find out. Good to get this apart anyways to install new orings and clean the filter, as a clog here could be an issue.

 

I don’t have an fsm. Do you have the toyota list with oil replacement quantity to be added for each component replaced? Most mfgs have this, but don’t know where to get it for the tacos

 

Looks like 1.4 oz for the condenser.

 

Thanks!

 

Ok got parts today. My buddy has a high end leak detector. We confirmed a VVERY small leak at the the condensor, but sadly also found a significant leak at the compressor main seal or case seal.

looking for opinions on four seasons brand new compressor. Denso no longer offers one, but it was just a re badged delphi. A new delphi is $400 and a new four seasons is $200. There is a uac and a gpd brand at similar prices if any one has experience with these. There was a nissens option at 350, but would just go delphi at that price point. Hoping folks out there have some experience with four seasons.

also hoping you can post the total oil capacity and/or the recommended approach for oil with compressor replacement. Condensor is getting swapped but the evap is staying.

 

The cheaper aftermarket compressors don't seem to last more than a few years where I'm at but our climate is hell on A/C systems. Also keep the Lock sensor from your old compressor, the aftermarket ones (even Delphi) don't always work properly.

This is all Toyota gives for compressor oil, essentially you drain and measure the oil in the old compressor and make sure the new compressor has that amount in it (note aftermarket compressors may or may not come with oil and amounts can vary, most will have a tag stating the amount of oil they contain but some do not). Since your doing the condenser as well you can add that amount to it.
Be sure to rotate the compressor a few revolutions after it is installed and the lines are connected to clear any oil out of the pumping elements.


1. ADJUST COMPRESSOR OIL

(a) When replacing the compressor and magnetic clutch with new ones, after gradually discharging the refrigerant gas from the service valve, drain the following volume of oil from new compressor and magnetic clutch before installation.

Standard:

(Oil capacity inside a new compressor and magnetic clutch: 150 + 15 cc (5.1 + 0.51 fl.oz.)) - (Remaining oil amount in the removed compressor and magnetic clutch) = (Oil amount to be removed when replacing the compressor)

NOTICE:

• When checking the compressor oil level, observe the precautions on the cooler removal/installation.
• If a new compressor and magnetic clutch are installed without removing some oil remaining in the pipes of the vehicle, the oil amount becomes too large. This prevents heat exchange in the refrigerant cycle and causes refrigerant failure.
• If the volume of oil remaining in the removed compressor and magnetic clutch is too small, check for oil leakage.
• Be sure to use RL-897 for compressor oil.

 

appreciate the advice. Bit the bullet and ordered the delphi. Found one for 350, so based upon your experience, it is worth another 150. Little confused on those toyota instructions. Yours make sense. Drain and measure what is in the old one and drain the new one and refill with whatever volume came out of the old one. However, the toyota guidance doesn't say that. It says a new compressor holds 5.6 oz (assuming this is the amount loaded into the compressor and designed to populate the entire system with oil), but have you subtract out whatever came out of the old compressor. I just cannot seem to wrap my head around this logic. What am I missing?

 

Yea there's no exact science to refrigerant oil balancing that I have found, unless you are replacing every component the best you can do is "close enough".
The way I would do it is subtract the amount of the evaporator (1.4oz) from the total of 5.6 and put that amount in the new compressor.

As long as you aren't way over the amount (cooling will be inefficient) or under the amount (higher risk of compressor failure) it will be fine.

 

Came here to say exactly this ^^

we ran into this problem twice in the last 3 months. The compressor would cycle on normally for a second and then let go, the light would start flashing and it wouldn't re-engage. First time we saw it we were chasing our tail for 2 days before we scoped the feedback signal and saw how terrible it looked. Installed original lock sensor on the new compressor and it went back to cycling perfectly

 

thanks. So, it would seem to make sense to swap the old sensor over from the get go, right?

 

Makes sense. FYI, I think that quote from the manual is a typo. Far more likely that it is 5.1 oz +or- .51 oz. It is too coincidental that it is .51 oz and that is exactly 10%

 

Mitchell also shows 5.6oz total system oil capacity but they typically get their info from the FSM so...

 

got the compressor condenser txv and an o-ring set installed over the weekend. Works well now. The compressor cycles a lot less now. I think the TXV was shot and was causing the oscillations in temperature. Seems to work well, but am new to Tacoma AC (bought it last fall and didn't use the AC much). At idle it runs relatively cold and going down the road seems acceptably cold, but not ice cold. Wondering if that is to be expected from this truck. Not complaining, just setting expectation. Got spoiled by my BMW. It also was not ice cold, but it had an elec condenser fan that would go on below 30 MPH, so got quite cold air sitting at a light.

Very little oil came out of the compressor, so ended up putting a bit less than 4 oz in the new compressor. Surprising that with the limited oil, there was zero signs of wear or distress. oil had NO grey or black tinting and filter looked almost new.

 

Mine (and many others it seems) is opposite, it's adequate at idle and gets alot better driving. Granted these trucks will never blow ice cubes on a hot day like some vehicles will but you should get 40-50 degree vent temps driving down the road.

I bet most of the oil was stuck in the evaporator because the refrigerant carries oil with it and when the charge is low the oil gets stuck in the evaporator because there's not enough liquid refrigerant to carry the oil back to the compressor.
You may have too much oil in it and that may be hurting cooling performance a bit.

 

I should have been more clear. The ac definitely blows colder running down the road as would be expected; More cooling in the condenser and higher RPMs on the compressor. I will get a thermometer in the vent, but certain it is blowing a minimum of 50* or cooler moving down the road. Now wishing I had put a bit less oil in, but too late now. I had topped off the freon before the change and the system was performing relatively well, so hopefully the oil was evened out. I had just assumed an inattentive tech had sucked out oil in the past during an evacuation and didn't replace it. Someone did that to my wife's accord before we got it. 80K miles and the oil was literally black when I tore it apart. Everything had to be replaced.

 

I learned some time ago that Taco air conditioning sucks. I have to keep the speed on AT LEAST fan speed 3 90% of the time, AND point all the vents toward me. I haven't used/needed/wanted tinted windows for years now (at least a couple of decades) in any of my various cars/trucks, but am SERIOUSLY considering getting ceramic tints this Summer.

 

My 2010 usually lives at 1-2 in the summer.

That said, that's summer in MA and I have a regular cab so it takes less to cool or warm the cab than most.