PennSilverTaco's "Perfect 5-Lug Regular Cab" Build, Aspergers, and General BS MegaThread!

These two A/C vents crank out cold air and will literally numb your fingers (Note condensation forming on lower corners of far left vent; It was almost 80°F and VERY humid when I took these pictures, and I had the driver's door open)…

 

The right side vents, which don't seem to be working very well at the moment...

 

I disconnected and reconnected the HVAC controls twice in attempt to "reset" it, and also closely inspected all connections and wires. Everything looks fine...

 

I drove a Jeep Wrangler today (technically yesterday) for the first time in my life!

 

@HomerTaco @Plain Jane Taco @Blackout14 @ABA180

The air-conditioner in my Tacoma seems like it might be in the early stages of failure!

 

My opinion.

The AC system is obviously working as it puts out cold air that will numb your fingers. There is no flap that would isolate the passenger side and the drivers side...

Blockage I will agree with, but exactly what is blocking the flow...

Likely cause could in fact be the expansion valve or thermistor causing the evaporator to freeze partially hampering air flow. Have you noticed a difference in the actual amount of air flowing between the driver and passenger sides? Does it work well at first then after extended use start this uneven temperature...

The expansion valve can be reached via under the hood firewall see image below:



Here is the layout of the cooler behind the dash:

 

Hard to say. I'm certainly no expert. But this seems like a good start.

 

Far right vent seems to be somewhat weaker but negligible. It's pretty consistently warm. Air will become marginally cooler if "recirc" is switched on. Can the air mix control servo motor be replaced as an individual part?

 

You more than likely have a refrigerant leak. My truck did the same thing when my compressor seal began leaking. It started with warm air out of the far right vent, getting progressively cooler with cold air coming out of the far left vent. Pretty soon only the far left vent produced cool air, then the AC failed completely. Get your pressure checked.

Closing one or more vents is not harmful, the air just gets diverted to the open vents.

 

So, just have the seals replaced, or is the compressor gonna need to be replaced?

 

You will have to get it checked out to know for sure. If it's leaking it could be as simple as a loose hose connection or, as in my case, a bad compressor. Can you say $$$$$.

 

Did you get the compressor replaced? Like $800 right?

 

If I recall correctly the compressor was around $700 and labor was about $400.

 

How long did it take for your A/C to totally fail from time right vent started blowing warm?

 

About a week.

 

Scheduled an appointment with my independent mechanic for this Monday. He says all the symptoms sound like I've got a refrigerant leak somewhere and/or the system needs to be balanced.

 

Yes and it is fairly easy. Keep in mind that the Air Mix Servo is common to all of the air vents. It would effect all vents the same.

 

That would effect the drivers side vents also, which he reports are cold enough to numb the fingers.

 

I use the same mechanic as my parents. I scheduled an appointment for this Monday. He's gonna vacuum the system down and check for leaks. My mechanic doesn't think it's the compressor, and he thinks total cost for repair will be less than $200.