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

So I went to the bank to get small bills for the drawer and had a momentary case of cerebral flatulence...

I momentarily forgot about my newly tinted windows and pulled up to the drive-thru, only to realize that I can't roll my windows down until Sunday!

So, I had to get out of the truck and walk up to the drive-thru...

Haven't had to do that since last winter when the Tacoma couldn't make it up the hill in the snow!

 

I'll just come right out and say this...

I know my truck's air-conditioner has a leak!!!

The truck is a 2010 RC 5-lug, purchased brand new in September 2009. It currently has a little over 84,600 miles on the clock.

The A/C problem first manifested itself in May or June of 2017, with about 75K miles on the clock. I'd gotten the A/C performance-tested in 2015 or 2016, but June 2017 was the very first time refrigerant had to be added to the system. The A/C worked fine for the remainder of the summer, though since the first recharge in June 2017, at times it doesnt seem to be as cold as it should be on the passenger side...

 

What's really weird here is that my Taco's A/C had never failed entirely. I discovered the problem in June 2017 when I held my hand in front of the far right vent and discovered that it was just blowing humid outside air.

My mechanic pressure-tested the system, found no leaks, and topped it off R134a. It worked fine for the rest of the summer.

I really used the A/C for the first time this season during a drive out to New Jersey with my girlfriend, on April 14th, 2018. We discovered that the A/C was blowing warm out of the far right vent again.

I took it to my mechanic, and while he again could find no leaks during a pressure/vacuum test, he put dye in the system this time when charged it. The A/C worked fine until maybe last week, and during this heat wave, I realized it was slowly but surely starting to get warm on the right side again. I made an appointment to bring the truck in this Monday, but this is starting to get annoying.

The A/C blows freezing on the driver's side at all times, though it's colder when I'm moving and/or the recirc is on.

 

Sounds like a problem with the doors that control the airflow. There is a stuck door that is probably moving air on that side over the heater core.

 

This vent blows anywhere from cool to pretty cold...

 

Then why does it blow cold out of that side when the A/C is recharged/topped off?

 

It's the far right vent that I've had the most problems with...

Also, last time I started a thread about the A/C in my truck, a troll swooped in and started making mean comments. Before any haters and/or trolls say anything about me being a pussy and that I should just deal with it, I would like to say that my A/C does work. It keeps me comfortable, and when I am on the highway or otherwise traveling at constant speeds of 45 MPH or more without stopping, I have to turn down fan speed because it gets so cold in my truck, even when it's in the nineties or triple digits!

This is primarily an Aspergers/OCD thing. It drives me nuts knowing that something in my truck isn't working 100%!

 

Coincidence maybe? If you get cold air out of any vent than you should be able to get cold air out of all the vents. I don't think a recharge is going to change that. They only way to get cold air from some vents and not others is if the diverters are moving some of the air over the heater core.

 

A lot of people have suggested that the door/flap that controls airflow between the heater core and A/C might be stuck. This could indeed be the case, but if it were simply the heater core, then my A/C would not need to be charged. The performance (coldness) increases when the system is charged.

I've determined that a full charge of R134a in my truck lasts about three months, because the first time I had it charged in June 2017 and it lasted the rest of the summer. I had it charged a second time in April 2018; now it's July 2018 and the air coming out of the far right vent is getting noticeably warmer again.

I made an appointment with my mechanic to have it looked at on Monday.

 

My biggest fear is that something will fail causing it to lose the entire charge, and I'll be without A/C in the middle of a heat wave and/or miles from home!

My A/C works pretty damn good now, but it does have a leak somewhere it's somehow managing to hold charge. I want to find the cause of this before there's a catastrophic failure of some sort!

 

Automotive AC units use the same vents for bring in outside air (when it’s cool enough that you don’t need to run the compressor) and also for blowing refrigerated air. Your truck should have two AC settings. The normal setting will bring in outside air that will be cooled down, and then there’s the recirculating setting which, as it states, recurculates the air that’s in the cabin. I think most users manuals will suggest only using the recirculation setting when you first turn the unit on, and then use the normal AC setting once it’s cooled down a bit.

The fact that you “topped off” the unit suggests that you either have a leak, or that the unit was not properly charged initially. Your truck will have only one AC system, so the same cooled air is distributed throughout the truck. The fact that one of your vents seems to blow warmer would also suggest, as ericd pointed out, that one of the diverters, or doors, was in the wrong position, allowing outside air to come in.

 

There is nothing wrong with the heater core. It's just getting air blown over it when it should be.

It could be that a fresh charge on the a/c allows it to be cold enough to offset the heat it's picking up from the heater. Or it's getting to much outside air into that duct. Either way my bet is that your air flow is not properly tuned.

 

Well, I made an appointment to get it looked at, so I'll tell him to look at the heater core!

 

There's nothing wrong with the heater core (except that it is getting airflow when it shouldn't). I hate to spend your money but the diverters that control the airflow are pretty complicated. A typical mechanic that does not have experience with the system will probably make it worse rather than better. This is one of the few instances I would suggest taking to the dealership.

 

@BKill
@ericd

I would also like to point out that I was in a very minor accident in August 2015, in which I rear-ended a 2014 Mustang GT at like 5-10 MPH. Among other things, the damage included a bent radiator support, but the truck was driveable and not leaking any fluids. It was probably a month before I got the truck fixed, and I drove it the entire time without any A/C issues.

I'm guessing this did not cause any of the problems I'm experiencing now...

 

Hey Hey Heeeeeeeeeeyyyyyy. Where are my peeps at?

 

Just finishing work...

 

Woke up to this in my tire today

 

July 6th, 2018:

Doylestown, Pennsylvania

 

What the hell is it? A jagged piece of metal...?