A/C Problem

[sigepbiker]

I'm having trouble with my A/C:

When I set the A/C mode to "dash", air is blowing out all four vents. However, the weird issue is the passenger side gets cold like normal, but the driver side dash vents blow air that is not as cold. Easily 10-20 deg difference.

Defrost vent and foot vents are blowing out air that are all the same temp as the passenger side. I haven't checked the back seat vents yet...

Does anyone know what would cause the driver side dash vents to not blow cold air, but every other vent will?

 

[ghs215]

You may have a blend door out of wack. Use the built in self test of the A/C...

Look in the shop manual (download from sticky). There is a page that shows how to do this.

 

[hearno]

Low on Freon, common fourth gen issue

 

[sigepbiker]

I'm pretty sure if it were a leak, all the vents would blow warm/hot air.

The passenger vent by the radio is blowing freezing cold air.

 

[hearno]

Pretty sure if you did a search you'd see it's a common issue. I used to own a 2005 sport and had the same symptoms and it was due to low Freon level.

 

[03limited2WD]

Is the compressor presure switch engaging?
Could be a relay under the hood.
I think you can swap the horn relay with AC to check it.

 

[mrpurplepenguin]

+1 to hearno, low on refrigerant. The symptom makes no sense for the problem to be low refrigerant, but that's by far the common solution for cold passenger side and hot driver side.

 

[preacher35]

I'm pretty sure if it were a leak, all the vents would blow warm/hot air.

The passenger vent by the radio is blowing freezing cold air.

[MENTION=79237]sigepbiker[/MENTION],

You sir are INCORRECT! Hearno is indeed correct, and you should listen to those of us that know. For some reason, when a 4th gen begins to run low on freon, the vents on one side (usually the drivers side) begin to blow warm/hot air while the opposing side still blows cold or cool air. A couple days later, your compressor stops working because it automatically shuts off to protect the internals of said compressor as the freon helps to lube it.

Now, that being said, if your Runner has over 100k on the clock, you will need to have your evaporator checked for a leak. The odds are, you have an evaporator leak. Sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but there it is. I will spare you the shocker of how much it will cost to have it replaced.

 

[Jagerzel]

Never spare the shocker. Never.

 

[crozhuyou]

You may have a blend door out of wack.

 

[earthrealm]

low on freon!!..it has happened to all of us.
you likely have a leak somewhere.
[MENTION=89791]preacher35[/MENTION] -- listen to him, we have been down this route before

 

[sigepbiker]

Truck is at the mechanic's now getting checked over, hopefully I'll have a diagnosis/direction to go.

[MENTION=89791]preacher35[/MENTION] - Just found your thread. (Sorry for the lack of searching :biggrin2 I passed on that information to the mechanic, even the possibility of the evaporator being the issue.

But, man, I hope you're wrong!! :wow::fear::ybrick: I could really go for a busted O-ring...

I'll post what/when I hear back.

 

[sigepbiker]

Got the car back Friday. Good news/bad news - he couldn't find a leak. He did have to put freon in it because it was low. (You guys are smart! :thumb I can't remember how much. I'm blasting my A/C so I can gauge how fast of a leak I have.

It's a 10-year-old car. Should there be a leak if it was low or does freon "disappear/evaporate/burn off/enter the fourth dimension" over time?

Hope that's it and I'm free to spend money on to mods...

 

[IOPturbo]

Did he put die in the system? What he probably did was use a sniffer, gave it a cursory glance and charged it up. You paid for this. Your evaporator that is an SOB to get to he did not check, when it leaks down more money for him. If there is die in the system look at your condensation drain, it will glow in the dark under uv light. I've done the evap replacement and it's not fun.

 

[Tjmoney]

I'm in the same boat and having the same problems you are. I had the 4runner filled with freon and it lasted 2 months now I'm suffering the heat. The shop told me its the expansion valve and I want to change it myself. Does anyone know where it is located?

 

[earthrealm]

the expansion valve is located near the evaporator under the glove box, i think its impossible to replace the expansion valve without taking the dash apart

[MENTION=51269]IOPturbo[/MENTION] , i dont think the tech did a decent job, if its adding gas, you could have done that by yourself at home, the correct procedure is to evaC THE system, hold vacum for 15 to 30mins, that way if the system isnt able to hold -29hg of mecury vaccum, then its a sure sign that its leaking, he can then add dye and refill with the exact weight of gars which is about 0.57kg to 0.685kg of r134a

 

[preacher35]

Got the car back Friday. Good news/bad news - he couldn't find a leak. He did have to put freon in it because it was low. (You guys are smart! :thumb I can't remember how much. I'm blasting my A/C so I can gauge how fast of a leak I have.

It's a 10-year-old car. Should there be a leak if it was low or does freon "disappear/evaporate/burn off/enter the fourth dimension" over time?

Hope that's it and I'm free to spend money on to mods...

[MENTION=79237]sigepbiker[/MENTION],

I took my Runner to 3 or 4 different mechanics, tried the die... yada yada. Finally, I found a guy who has done a ton of work on Runners and Tacomas. He put some sort of "sensor" up to the tip of the evap condensation drain/runoff hose (located in the engine compartment, on the underside, up against the fire wall) and WHAMO! Traces of freon coming out of said drain pipe. Why the hell the previous mechanics did not know to check there to begin with was beyond me. The fact that your guy could not find a leak, makes me even more convinced that it is your evaporator. Well, anyway, whenever your freon gets low again, and the compressor shuts down, PM me and I'll send you a pic of where the evap drain/runoff hose is located so that you can at least rule that out whenever you take it in again. Where in Houston are you located?

PS: before somebody finally found my leak, I had my compressor recharged multiple times. But the intervals got less and less. First 5 weeks, then 3, then only a few days before the compressor shut off. Weird.

Good luck!

 

[IOPturbo]

I'm in the same boat and having the same problems you are. I had the 4runner filled with freon and it lasted 2 months now I'm suffering the heat. The shop told me its the expansion valve and I want to change it myself. Does anyone know where it is located?

as [MENTION=78511]earthrealm[/MENTION] said, its under the dash... connected directly to the evaporator core. From what I recall you may be able to sneak it out of there without actually pulling the evaporator core, although I wouldn't do that. I'd do both at the same time. As far as evacuating the system, if you have a leak there is nothing to evacuate but I would flush everything really well. You do always pull vacuum to verify there are no leaks but I always put dye in the system, why not? Down the road it will make leak detection much more simple.
[MENTION=89791]preacher35[/MENTION] , yes that is what I'm talking about, the drain will be glowing like crazy.

 

[aparker81]

Just this season, I've experienced cold air only coming from the passenger side's vents. The driver and rear air vents blow warm.

Symptoms
- A/C system pressure tests okay as performed by professional mechanic
- Freon level tests okay as performed by professional mechanic
- A/C thermostat control operates normal.
- A/C directional control operates normal.
- A/C blower speed control operates normal.
- A/C recirculation control operates normal.

Observation
- No servo clicking heard. When engine is turned off, a sound similar to a cd tray closing is heard from the passenger side footwell / glovebox area. This has been heard for a long while even when A/C performance was completely operational.

Question
- Could the driver's side servo be bad and not allow cold air flow because it is restricted to the hot setting?
- Will DTC check be of any use to obtain a trouble code?

Thanks in advance.

 

[SoSoRunner]

Is there anyways to prevent the evap under the dash from leaking? Or is it just a matter of time thing?