AC at half power after timing belt change

[Bradleypie]

I just got my truck back from getting the timing belt, tensioner, seals, and coolant flushed and I noticed that when I turned the AC on it was only working at about half the power it was before I dropped it off. I'm wondering what would cause it to drop in power but still have cold air. On the aircon dash panel to the left of the at& t bars it says "LO" now. Any ideas as to what could have happened?

2005 V8 110k miles 4x4

 

[scottm]

So are we talking fan speed/airflow, or coldness? Did they pull the radiator or just cover it? I've done a few timing belts, no issues like this.

 

[talonjade]

i can attest this happened to me as well... my truck is running superbly though. ac is just half as good as it use to be. maybe incidental

 

[Bradleypie]

So are we talking fan speed/airflow, or coldness? Did they pull the radiator or just cover it? I've done a few timing belts, no issues like this.

Just fan speed, still blowing cold air. Not sure about the radiator

i can attest this happened to me as well... my truck is running superbly though. ac is just half as good as it use to be. maybe incidental

Did you get it done in the springs? Can't complain about any other performance issues like you said

 

[MikeInNH]

Just fan speed, still blowing cold air.

That's very weird..since they're unrelated systems. I don't see how anything they did replacing the fan belt could effect the air speed of the cooling/heating fan.

For the heck of it...put it on high heat...and see if you have the same problem.

 

[JB.]

Maybe just a mix-up between auto fan and manual fan.

 

[eli_lilly]

Press the "auto" button?

-E

 

[talonjade]

My fan speed is fine just the "Coldness of the air" is lessened. I am going to try an AC flush...not sure when it was done last so it could just need to be done.

 

[eli_lilly]

Press the recirc button, maybe?

-E

 

[nevada]

I just got my truck back from getting the timing belt, tensioner, seals, and coolant flushed and I noticed that when I turned the AC on it was only working at about half the power it was before I dropped it off. I'm wondering what would cause it to drop in power but still have cold air. On the aircon dash panel to the left of the at& t bars it says "LO" now. Any ideas as to what could have happened?

2005 V8 110k miles 4x4

um, turn the fan up?

i dont have one of these, but i have to assume there is a fan controller, low/medium/high etc...




or are you talking about the fan when using the auto setting?

 

[scottm]

If they pulled the radiator to give them room (or because they damaged it), they would've had to refill the refrigerant. If they messed it up it would not perform well. Another possibility is that they left something covering the radiator, blocking airflow, or blocking the cabin air intake.

 

[Weejub]

Press the recirc button, maybe?

-E

Sounds crazy, but it definitely helps so double check that

 

[scottm]

Old story, but my brother was at a Toyota dealership getting his Supra Turbo looked at for something. He is a car fanatic, was a Lexus executive, and had just come from the factory headquarters garage after taking a head mechanic somewhere in the car. When he jumped in to leave, the air wasn't blowing cold air like it had been up to then, including with the head mechanic on board. He shut it off, explained the problem, they started giving him the run-around about making an appointment. He handed them his business card and said fix it. It was evacuated and refilled in minutes, never had another problem. It sure sounds like they let the refrigerant out so he'd have to come back for more work.

 

[aha2988]

I know there was one account of a tech putting a napkin in the cabin filter cartrage. I assume in hopes the customer would come back wanting there A/C fan fixed and they would be like oh you need a whole new fan assembly.. when all in all the customer just found the napkin and pounded the shop for free service lol..

check your cabin filter make sure its clean or fresh. its comon to notice other issues in your truck after you've had work done to it because thats when your focused on "ok did they mess anything up is everything running right bla bla bla" when normally your just driving listening to music or whatever not really noticing that lower fan speed. The timing belt has no relationship to he fan speed of the air condition and you said your air is cold so its not the freon levels.

The switch for the fan speed can gain a carbon deposit build up say if you leave it on the medium fan speed all the time it builds carbon between the electrical connections telling the A/C controler what speed to turn the fan at once theres enough carbon built up the connection is no longer made and the medium setting will no longer work until the componants are dissasembled and the electical connections cleaned.

between that and just checking to make sure your not limiting the air flow with an old filter you should be able to sort out the issue.

 

[TimboSliceMD]

If they pulled the radiator to give them room (or because they damaged it), they would've had to refill the refrigerant. If they messed it up it would not perform well. Another possibility is that they left something covering the radiator, blocking airflow, or blocking the cabin air intake.

There's no reason to pull the radiator for the timing belt, just the upper rad support and fan shroud. Also, if it were low on refrigerant it wouldn't be blowing cold at all. I agree with aha2988 to check the cabin air filter, but I imagine it has something to do with the switch itself. If it's not it could also be one of the blend doors inside the dash (easy to check, just see if it's coming out of another vent)

 

[Bradleypie]

yeah my guess would be something blocking air flow. the temperature is just fine. i've tried hitting recirc and switching to the heater to no avail. air is blowing out of all the vents. the speeds differ from the inside vents to the outer vents but i'm pretty sure that's normal.