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

Here are some pics of various underhood parts of my A/C system...

 

My friend who has owned Rolls-Royces and Bentleys his whole life told me about this simple way to listen to your A/C compressor and see if it is in good working condition...

I'm sure lots of people on TW have heard of this method before, but I'm just putting it out there for those who haven't...

You simply use the dipstick like a stethoscope. If the compressor seems to be shaking or making weird noises, it's probably on it's way out. If all it does is vibrate the dipstick like mine did, it's probably fine!

 

My truck is currently having problems with the A/C, and I think it needs to be charged. I'm bringing it to my mechanic tomorrow. Please see my other threads with regards to that.

I'm wondering if this excess condensation is related to whatever else may be wrong?

 

For a nearly 8 year old truck, that's really not too bad

 

What do you think of my new signature?

 

If the charge is low the vaporization point of the refrigerant drops to or near 0° C, this causes water vapor in the air to freeze and build-up on the evaporator coils-when the AC compressor is shut down, either by AC controls sensing the low temp or when you turn off the engine, the build-up melts and produces a larger than normal amount of condensation...

Topping off the charge (and fixing any leaks of course) should fix it up...

 

There seems to be a lot of new threads about problems with Tacoma air-conditioners recently, so I figured "Why not post this thread just for fun?" I may have posted something like this before, but I have no idea where it is and don't feel like digging it up.

So, of all the vehicles you've owned, leased, rented, or otherwise had in your life (or currently have in your life), which has the best A/C system?

All of the vehicles I'm listing here were owned by my parents between 1996 and 2013...

Of all the vehicles my family has owned, the one with the best A/C by far was my mom's 2004 Honda Odyssey EX minivan, purchased new in May 2004 and owned until May 2013. 9 years and 130K+ miles, and never once did the A/C have to be serviced. It also had dual A/C, which was really great when there were a lot of people in the van.

Coming in at a close second was my dad's 1996 Nissan Pathfinder SE, which was traded for my Tacoma. My dad bought the Pathy new in May 1996 and traded it for the Tacoma in September 2009. 13 years and approximately 113K miles. The A/C had to be recharged one time in about August 2003, when the Pathy was just over 7 years old. The service was done at a Goodyear Gemini facility in Fairfax County, Virginia (where we were living at the time). The A/C worked perfectly for the remaining 6 years we owned the Pathfinder.

Actually it's more of a tie. Tying with the Pathy is my dad's 2002 BMW 325Ci convertible, purchased used from his older brother (the original owner) in 2006. The A/C in that BMW was so cold that if you ran it with the top down on a humid day, condensation formed on the vents (My Tacoma will do the same thing if the A/C is run with the windows down on a humid day). We only had the BMW for 2 years, and my dad traded it for a new 2008 Acura TL in August 2008. The A/C in the Acura worked great, but it wasn't anywhere near as powerful as the A/C in the Odyssey that we still had at the time!

My dad's 2003 Honda S2000 also had really good A/C. Really good is an understatement. The A/C in the S2000 was finger-numbingly cold, like my Tacoma (when the A/C is fully charged), but it was a small 2-seat sports car and the A/C didn't have that big of a space to cool.

 

Worst A/C ever:

2000 GMC Safari conversion van. The A/C in this van never worked as good as the A/C in other vehicles of ours even when it was charged and in perfect working order. It leaked refrigerant and had to be charged every spring. GM did this under warranty but never seemed to be able to fix the system. The warranty ended in 2003, and my parents traded it for the aforementioned Honda Odyssey in May 2004.

1987 Mercedes 300E. The A/C actually did work quite well when the system was charged, but it leaked, and it used R-12. My Grandma bought the car new in 1987. The A/C quit working in about 1999 and had to be charged every year. This was back when R-12 was still easy to find, and thus all mechanics (and many do-it-yourself car enthusiasts) still had a stash of the stuff in their garage, and as such it was reasonably priced. The Benz was replaced with a new Lexus RX300 in 2002, and sat unused for over a year. My dad and the same older brother who would end up selling him the 2002 BMW brought the car back to life in 2003. In 1999, the cost of recharging an R-12 system in a W124 Mercedes was like $130 (that was at an independent garage in New Hampshire). In 2003, it cost $300 to recharge the system (at a Mercedes dealership in Northern Virginia)! Like I said, the A/C in that car was freezing when charged, and the charge lasted the entire summer, but it leaked. On top of that, the car was 16 to 18 years old during the time we had it, and those infamous German electrical gremlins manifested themselves just about everywhere, including the HVAC controls! Whether we had the A/C or heat on, the fan would turn on and off, and sometimes even raise and lower it's speed, all by itself!

 

If the outside air is humid, that's exactly what will happen. Your air conditioner removes moisture from the air. When there is excessive moisture in the air, it will drain out of the evap and leak. The higher the humidity, the more it will leak. Every system does this and it's perfectly normal.

 

It's 54% humidity in "Bucks county, PA" right now lol. Yes, every AC system in your area will be doing this right now.

 

Still needs a charge though, unfortunately...

 

How do you know that?
https://youtu.be/5KTSKWWFk_M

 

Because it's blowing no colder than 50°F at the two left vents, 60°F at inner right vent, and 70°F at the far right vent with the "recirc" on. With the "recirc" off, the temperature at three of the vents goes up by more than 10°F and the temperature at the far right vent goes up to almost 90°F. When driving with the "recirc" off, the two vents blow about 50°F and the inner right vent is cool, but the far vent is warm.

About a year ago, my A/C was blowing 41°F at the vents.

That's why...

 

Probably could have mentioned that in the beginning.

The condensation has nothing to do with your problem though. It's perfectly normal. Good luck.

 

I have other threads dedicated to the actual present problem with my A/C.

 

Are they riddled with multiple pictures of your thermometer?

 

That's only one thread... One thread has pictures of when I disconnected the HVAC controls. Another has pics I took under the hood, of the compressor, lines, expansion valve, orifice tube, etc...

 

Yea but a ac system gets colder on recirc. as your driving (with air blowing throu ) not just sitting and bringing your idle up to a theoretical driving rpm. Your system MAY need repair but I don't think your expierment is completely sound .... I personally have no AC expierence but I don't think your thermometers in your vents are completely sound . I could be 100% wrong too , I would just wait til your mechanic checks it out and tells you what's wrong

I'm not trying to be a dick , just stating my opinion

I'm also from alittle further north in pa , about 40 min. from you and I think that it should be warmer out than it is now to use it to get a better idea how it cools


Again all my opinion


I haven't put thermometers down my vents to see what a good system is either , so those temps could be hot idk I also haven't examined the condensation from the drain tube out of my ac system either so I have nothing to compare it too

 

Tomorrow maybe I will take a digital meat thermometer out and put down my vents ... my system was just replaced about 4weeks ago ( I had my condenser , compressor and expansion valve replaced plus a recharge) and now I'm icy cold . Now you got me curious lol, my butt thermometer says it's cold and it's good lol

My system does get colder as I drive and the system recirculates also I never use my system when it's not on recirculate


I know when I first turn my ac on it's starts blowing cold/cool air unlike my wife's car that blows warm/hot air at first and then cools down