2004 4WD V6 4runner. I was driving for 1.5 hours yesterday and it just seemed like the AC was... struggling. It wasn't getting cold enough. Plus it felt like it wasn't blowing as hard and fast as I'm used to. Any ideas? Can a recharge kit fix this you think?

The not getting cold enough part may well be resolved by recharging the Freon if that's the issue, only one way to find out, either buy the kit and see if it helps or take it in to be checked by a mechanic.

The not blowing as hard part would be the blower motor or fan speed selector switch and not the AC system.

How old is your cabin air filter? These get remarkably dirty and reduce airflow, especially on vehicles parked outside where there are trees/pollen/etc.

Recharge it. Evaporator crack/failure is a common high mileage occurrence with 4th gens.

need to recharge mine too! lovely how less than a year ago i bought the truck and it was working, now its summer and its blowing hot air

My fan was a little noisy so I took my filter out and reached in to find a bunch of sticks leaves etc in the fan.

Also make sure your recirc is on, recirculation is important when it is boiling hot outside.

Also make sure your servos that control/blend AC and heater are working and the vent selector servo is selecting
the main vents on the dash pointed at you and not the floor, windshield etc.
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It could be the refrigerant is not high enough, a possible leak in the hoses/valves, or you check that your A/C Compressor is engaging when turning on auto. Just do a quick look under the hood when you turn it on.

I've kind of noticed that with mine too. Admittedly I probably need a cabin filter change but earlier this week it was nice and cold but today it seemed to struggle a lot. Today was the hottest day of the year too though in my state.

I'll be honest generally speaking I'm a DIY guy but with the AC I am probably going to take mine in and have it checked/serviced. I've used the ones you buy at the auto parts store in the past on previous vehicles and it seems like they help for anywhere from a week to a month and then it's back to the same issues. Could be due to the complexity of the late model AC systems, could be that the gauges for the refill are cheap, I don't know. What I do know is if something goes wrong and I break my system, it's a lot more expensive to fix/replace than it is to service.

Ideally, if I were you, I would go to a Toyota/Lexus dealer. If they want too much you might see what a local mechanic charges. It all really depends on how much you can and are willing to spend and how long you plan on keeping your rig. I plane on driving mine until the cows come home so I tend to drop more money for maintenance than I did for some of my previous cars.

Just my $.02.

My AC works fine....but when it very hot outside I do notice a big difference in the air temperature, as mentioned earlier the when recirculating air switch is turned on and not having the hot outside air coming into the AC system, one thing I have notice with mine is when I do turn on the recirculating air switch and then turn off the vehicle when I come back and start it the switch is off, doesn't happen all the time just every once in a while, not sure why it does that but when it's hot outside I notice it almost at once, turn the switch back on and the air gets colder again.

Hmm. Well, my old Cobra used to have that issue with the fog light button. It's probably not this simple but I almost want to suggest taking the button out and cleaning it with electronic connection cleaner and the going from there.

Mine seems to always start with recirc on. I thought it was a feature. I think it adjusted back to fresh air on it's own if that was the original selection. I might just be crazy, too.

much like everyone else my 4runner is 13 years old and having the same issues. I've given it the r134 several times only to have it blowing quite less cold, but good enough a couple months later. I basically have done this before the summer for the last 4 years but have read that this could potentially be bad for the system to not have the right weight of refrigerant in the system.

Ideally I would get your lines sucked out and have them put new refrigerant in at the A/C shop to the car's specs. That's only about a hundred and fifty dollar fix. If it's not that it's probably something to do with the evaporator or compressor neither of which is necessarily cheap or a DIY job.

It's very rare but sometimes my A/C takes 5-15 minutes to even kick on. Pretty sure it's an evaporator issue but again, it's a pretty expensive fix (like a thousand bucks) and the A/C blows cold enough... my cents.

If the Refrigerant has to be recharged. There is a leak. Refrigerant doesn’t go bad.

My cabin air filter looks like trash, I'll change that first then see if it helps


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My cabin filter looked like that when I replaced it.

The cabin air filter has no bearing on air conditioning "strength" or temperature. The filtration level of the cabin air filter is very loose/coarse. It only filters out the largest and most egregious contaminants.