AC not cold enough

Hey All , I just picked up a 2003 Tacoma pre-runner , I live in California and it’s hot out here , the AC is not blowing cold enough and my friend Who I purchased the truck from just put new parts in the AC before he sold me the truck , and had it changed up , I was wondering if there’s anything I can do about making it colder ? Also I’m New to Tacoma world and love this website !

 

Get it pressure-tested for starters...

My A/C was blowing ice cubes out of the far left vent, kind cold out of the middle left vent, and warm out of the right vents. I ended up being a pound low on refrigerant! It sounds like you just need a charge, or when your friend replaced the parts he didn't put enough of a charge back into the system...

FYI, my system still has a leak and the dealer put dye in it, so I'm bringing it back next week to see if they can find the leak. As of right now, however, it hasn't worked this good since 2016!

 

Welcome to TW, thats a pretty clean truck

^^^this sounds like you mighy be low on charge

 

Don't use A/C PRO! Get it serviced by the dealer or a qualified mechanic!

 

+1
Mine was on on the highway but at idle would warm up. Swapped my fan clutch, works like champ now

 

Between several friends, and myself, we've used AC Pro multiple times, with no issues...

That being said, I just had Jiffy Lube evacuate and fully recharge my ac system for $130, so it's not exactly a huge difference over a $40 AC Pro recharge....

 

My AC was blowing warm air as I discovered while driving in Redding, CA on a day it was 106 degrees. Read the forums and decided to pop into the local mechanic near my office. They had it recharged and got me out the door in 10 min. So worth the minimal effort.

 

Thats great. Its a hack way to introduce an unknown level of freon & oil into the system.

 

Hack? It's for topping off the system, with the same stuff the pro's use, just not a full size, vacuum pulling machine...

 

What were the high and low pressures reading when you decided it was low?

 

Right within spec buddy

 

Look. There's a little more to A/C systems then just topping it off... If you dont know what you're doing you're going to cause more damage then good. Too much freon or too much compressor oil is just as bad for the system as too little.

The symptoms people typically associate with "low Charge" can be caused by 5 other different things. Failing compressor, clogged condenser, clogged evaporator, failing evaporator. Buying a $40 (Holy shit $40) can of whatever marketing gimmick can and pumping into into the low side doesn't fix these issues.

I'm tired of people recommending this hack way to fix all their A/C problems in a magic can

 

People that know what they're doing dont use A/C Pro

 

Ok stud, relax already. I've (apparently) "hack" fixed ac's that just needed to be topped off probably a half dozen times. Several of those trucks were topped off, with AC Pro, over 3 years ago, and haven't had a single problem since. Just because you don't understand something, doesn't mean everyone else, included an entire friggin company, is wrong.

sheesh!

 

Several things could be happening here... the most obvious of which could be answered by a simple pressure test performed by a local AC shop on the cheap.

1. Low freon. Only way to know is by pressure testing the system. A dummy way to tell is if the compressor kicks on and off constantly. How much to add? That's best left again to pressure testing based on ambient temps.
2. Too much oil in the system. Oil lubricates the parts, but it doesn't have any cooling properties. Improper amounts can cause issues. Too much = insufficient cooling, too little = parts wear faster. Room for error is about 30-40cc of oil. Absolutely no way to tell. If you swap a part, you add an educated guesstimate of oil back in, anywhere from 20-100cc depending on the part. There no way to know for sure. There are techniques out there for certain parts, namely the compressor. You can find on google.
3. Fan clutch is bad. If the AC gets cold while moving but becomes *unreasonably* warm while idling, then your fan clutch is most likely to blame, as it's not moving enough air. Some loss in performance at idle is to be expected.. learn to live with it, or put it on recirc at idle. Don't expect this truck to freeze you out when it's 110F out and you're in bumper to bumper, it's just not going to happen.
4. Clogged condenser. Somewhat related to the "warm while idling" scenario, if there is any debris covering the exterior of the condenser, then those blockages need to be removed/cleaned off to allow air to flow across it.
5. Clogged parts due to metal shavings or other debris. Worst case scenario is compressor shits, blows metal crap through your lines, clogging up your evap, condensor, etc. Only solution is replacing all the parts and flushing the lines.

Good luck.

I will add a little bit of wisdom.. it's going to be a lot cheaper in the long run to have a professional look at it if you are even remotely thinking "I'll just dump a can of XXX into my lines". This $20 "fix" will cost you much more in the long run. Fix it the right way so you don't have to spend another $1000 later. That's a great looking truck and if it was a bucket we were talking about, I'd say add the $20 can to keep you moving. But with that truck, don't cheap out. It's nice and I assume you'll want to keep it for a long time.

 

Friggin

Spell it out for me, what am I not understanding?

 

No way you got it all wrong! - This old man wants to buy $40.00 cans of marketing to hack fill the systems on his buddy's rides. Real good friend.

 

jesus fucking christ guys - I never recommended that anyone even use AC Pro. In fact, I stated that getting it done professionally wasn't all that much more expensive and a better option.

some tightly strung panties on this forum! lol....

 

Jamesboy2233 - I don't think you, of all people, need to be dishing out advice on how to take care of a truck, lol