A/C light flashing??

[Neumonic]

My relay on my 2003 went south on me yesterday, my 4 Runner has 187,800 miles on her. Switched to the fog light relay to confirm and then stopped by Advance Auto parts this morning and ordered a new one for $9 that will be in this afternoon.

Great info in this thread, thanks to all that contributed with their time and knowledge!

 

[Brian_F_Colgate]

Still having problems with A/C

I first replaced the Cabin Air Filter, then swapped the relays between the magnetic clutch and the fog lights. The fog lights were still working after the swap. The A/C light still goes to flashing after about 3 seconds. As someone else mentioned turning it off and on had helped him, I tried that several times but it still starts flashing after three seconds.

I called the dealer and the price for the new relay here in SW Ontario, Canada is over $120 + taxes! I wonder if anyone can point me to anything else I might try? I'm not keen on spending that money if it won't solve the problem, and the fog lights working after the swap indicates that the relay might NOT be the problem.

Thanks for any and all suggestions.
Brian

 

[PredBlue]

I first replaced the Cabin Air Filter, then swapped the relays between the magnetic clutch and the fog lights. The fog lights were still working after the swap. The A/C light still goes to flashing after about 3 seconds. As someone else mentioned turning it off and on had helped him, I tried that several times but it still starts flashing after three seconds.

I called the dealer and the price for the new relay here in SW Ontario, Canada is over $120 + taxes! I wonder if anyone can point me to anything else I might try? I'm not keen on spending that money if it won't solve the problem, and the fog lights working after the swap indicates that the relay might NOT be the problem.

Thanks for any and all suggestions.
Brian

What!?!? I paid $15 a few months ago at Autozone here in the US. If you can't find a comparable store up there is it not possible to order online from somewhere here in the US?

 

[Brian_F_Colgate]

An alternative solution

I changed the cabin air filter, swapped the two relays -- fog lights still worked so that wasn't it -- and took it to my usual shop to have the freon checked. It was fine -- it had been topped up last summer, perhaps for the first time since 2003. The tech noticed the compressor was not coming on so he dug around a bit. There was a ground from the compressor to a bracket below it; he said that bracket was heavily rusted. He ran a new ground lead to the block and everything is A-OK.
F.Y.I.

 

[acwhitt]

Update...


Went to the dealer Saturday and what do you know! The relay started working again along with my AC. They could not replicate the problem unless they pulled the relay from the fuse box. They had the new relay in stock so I just bought the thing. It was like $60. I threw it in my glove box incase I needed it.

For future reference(TSB EL011-05):

The relay that came with the car and is faulty is part number 90987-02022 and is white in color.

It is supposed to be replaced by the newer relay part number 90987-02028 and is grey in color.

This relay is found in the fuse box under the hood marked as "MG CLT". "MG CLT" is short for Magnetic Clutch.


Thanks

Thanks for all the info guys! I found a relay at Advance Auto for $15. just give them the part number 90987-02028 and they should match it to "Factory Air by 4Seasons" relay number 35874. the dealer wanted $85 so i went with the Advance Auto option. took 30 seconds to put it in.
Hope it saves yall some money!

 

[OVERLAND IN TX]

help needed

I replaced the original relay and it seemed not to fix the issue. I want to assume there may be a dealership update combined with replacement part or is there something else wrong? I still get the flashing light.

 

[earthrealm]

i have a similar problem, blibking ac light. its not freon or magnectic clutch.
the a/c trys to start, bogs down my rpm, and then fails to start, slight smell of hot rubber..and then the blinking light.

i think my compressor or magnetic clutch might be toast.

this happened to anybody before?

 

[bigmoose]

My AC light was blinking so I changed out the faulty relay and put in a new cabin air filter. Still no AC. The light stays on for a couple seconds and then starts blinking again. I'm at 122,000 on my 03 SR5, V6.

I see a few others here that also have the same problem. Any ideas ?

 

[earthrealm]

My AC light was blinking so I changed out the faulty relay and put in a new cabin air filter. Still no AC. The light stays on for a couple seconds and then starts blinking again. I'm at 122,000 on my 03 SR5, V6.

I see a few others here that also have the same problem. Any ideas ?

samething happened to me...2 techs have confirmed that my ac compressor is toast, the shit cant rotate anymore, try and see if u can rotate the compressor by hand with the engine off.
if u can, then ur compressor might still be ok, it could then be an issue of too little ot too much freon...which only a set of manifold guages will tell you

 

[bigmoose]

samething happened to me...2 techs have confirmed that my ac compressor is toast, the shit cant rotate anymore, try and see if u can rotate the compressor by hand with the engine off.
if u can, then ur compressor might still be ok, it could then be an issue of too little ot too much freon...which only a set of manifold guages will tell you

Thanks. I went back out and took another look at the relay. Just to see if the new Napa relay worked, I pulled it out and put the fog lamp relay in. The AC now works perfectly ! I put the Napa relay back in the fog lamp spot and it does not work. Taking it back in the morning. This was their premium relay with the lifetime warranty ($23). Man, I'm glad I caught it ! I also replaced a leaking CV boot clamp while out there.

 

[syb65]

Wanted to chime in. Mine started blinking too about a couple weeks ago. I also did what everybody else did too, dropping it a couple times then replacing it with the upgraded one. Still didn't work. I sat there in the car and could here it click on and off, but still hot air. Then one poster said about the ground wire, went and check it out, turns out it was loose. Had some sandpaper, took off the little bolt, sanded the bracket and all the metal contacts and now ka-Ching saving, it works!

Thanks y'all, it was getting kind of hot driving on the highway with the windows up.

 

[4by4th]

I had no A/C and the blinking A/C light. Went through the relay swap, didn't work, bought a new relay from Autozone, didn't work. Took it to the dealer and the compressor needed to be replaced.

 

[russman1963]

Easy fix! I had the flashing AC light with no AC, bought the new style relay for $15 had it fixed in a couple of minutes!

 

[syb65]

My AC light was blinking so I changed out the faulty relay and put in a new cabin air filter. Still no AC. The light stays on for a couple seconds and then starts blinking again. I'm at 122,000 on my 03 SR5, V6.

I see a few others here that also have the same problem. Any ideas ?

i have a similar problem, blibking ac light. its not freon or magnectic clutch.
the a/c trys to start, bogs down my rpm, and then fails to start, slight smell of hot rubber..and then the blinking light.

i think my compressor or magnetic clutch might be toast.

this happened to anybody before?

So what if the AC light's blinking but it's NOT the relay? I pulled it out and swapped it with the dome light and fog light one, but no dice. Any other ideas? Thanks

Again, my ac light started blinking. ordered a new relay, and still didn't work. Checked the ground wire from the compressor, and what do u know, the little bolt is loose again. tightened it up, put in the old relay, old faithful a/c started right up. returning the relay to amazon.
So summary, if you tried the new relay, checked your compressor is still spinning freely, and still no cold air>>> check the ground lead is still bolted tight on the engine block.

 

[pilotman92]

A/C light flashing w/ new relay, full freon, and new A/C compressor

Hey Friends,

You guys have been a huge help to me since I picked up my T4R 4 months ago. Hard to believe in 4 months I've already had to research 4-5 different issues.

2005 4Runner V8 SR5
~100k miles (yeah I know it's practically new)

I bought it from a lady 3 states away, Toyota.com confirms she JUST had the A/C compressor replaced 6 months ago. As the weather started warming up here in Atlanta, I noticed my A/C wasn't getting too cold. A little digging turned up magnetic clutch relay issues as well as possibly just low on freon.

I recharged the freon and confirmed that I do in fact have the NEW relay.

With the new relay, fresh freon, and a 6-month-old A/C compressor, what the heck else could it be??

Thanks!
Nick

 

[Charlescoast]

A/C Light Still Flashing

A/C Light still blinks intermittently after installing "New" Mag Clutch Relay
P/N: 90987-02028. Thanks for any help on further diagnosing this problem.

 

[MikeinNH67]

I replaced my clutch relay with a $6 one from Rockauto. No more blinking light. I also replaced the one for the heater circuit for the upstream o2 sensors as both sensors were burnt out when I got the truck. Same model relay so I'm thinking it stuck on at some point. Broke open the clutch relay and it looks like the one earlier in this thread. May need to look at the diode dealio listed in this thread.

 

[mitchell.marsh]

I would like share my idea regarding in that issue:

The AC clutch works with an electro-magnet basically. The AC clutch coil can burn out, short out or sometimes even develop into too weak to engage appropriately. However, those same symptoms can become visible if you have a pitted AC clutch relay. So your first step is to use a jumper cable to provide battery power and ground directly from the battery.

 

[gshadow325]

This is what brought me to t4r. Org 7 years ago and now it brings me back again. My truck still has this bad relay in it. Banged on it and now I have ac again lol. Ordered new updated relay.

 

[djjazzyjoel]

I just had this happened and then “press the auto button” solutions worked for me the second time. I took out the relay and it’s already the 08028 replacement relay, but it’s not Toyota / OEM. Should I try to order the actual Toyota part for $20 or is it possible there’s a larger problem?