Well, it finally happened. My first major repair is coming up. I had a good run while it lasted. 229,000 miles on the car now and this morning on the way to work, the drivers vents went warm and passengers side was cool (first sign of a Freon leak in these cars is when the drivers vents go warm). So when I opened the door to get out of the car, the compressor was making a horrible noise as well.

So, I ran the car with no A/C until I got home (88 degrees outside). When I got home, I put a gauge on the low pressure side and it was low, but not empty. Just for fun, I hooked up a can of 134a and filled it up. The horrible noise went away and it is blowing cold out of all of the vents again. I remember a few years ago having the system checked and they (Toyota) said I had a very slow leak in the evaporator.

I hate to let the dealer rape me for $2600 just to replace the evaporator, but I will not be able to trust some fly by night A/C shop to pull my dash without screwing anything up. Especially since I have not had a rattle or squeak in this car for so long. Also, I'm thinking this would be a good time to have my dash replaced while its in there. I believe there is a recall or TSB on the dashboard.

Any advice or constructive criticism would be appreciated in this endeavor before I move forward with the repair.

 

229,000 miles...in 8 years? How long is your commute?

 

300 to 900 miles per week. It varies because of where we work. As an example. We worked in Miami last night. 2 hour drive there and 2 hour drive back.

The compressor is still working and it is still cooling. BUT, it is definitely toast. The problem is in the Electric Motor side of the compressor. It sounds like the armature is coming in contact with one of the magnets (high speed rubbing sound). Either due to a failing or failed bearing or some of the magnets have come loose.

So, now to source a salvage compressor and have the evaporator and drier kit replaced. Fun stuff.

I'm learning that there is no conventional drier canister like in a conventional system. It is a "kit" and it looks like a sock.

I'm thinking I may, take it upon myself to do the work. IE: have a shop evacuate the system, then I can replace the compressor, drier kit and evaporator. Then have it charged back up.

I have played with the idea of getting rid of the car. But, it has been so good and so reliable.... Tough call.

 

How was life in FL before ac was on every car?

 

Personally, I would not drop $2500 into car that has that many miles. It's close to half the value left in the car.

 

Personal opinion..... Drop a salvaged compressor from a wrecked car into it. replace the drier and pull a vacuum and charge it. Even if the evaporator has a slow leak, just keep a watch on the system and put a few cans of R134a into it every year or so. It will work for a LONG time with a slow leak and you should be able to get a LOT more miles out of the car for a minimal amount of cash.

 

Thanks to all for the input! Here is where I'm at after today. Today is the first official day of dealing with the issue. I had the car in to Treasure Coast Toyota and they agreed on the leak, filled the system with just over 1 pound of Freon and put some dye in there. They asked me to drive the car until the AC quits again or 1000 miles whichever comes first to give the dye time to come out wherever it needs too.

Also, they found the noise was in fact NOT the compressor but the passengers side radiator fan is making lots of racket when it is on low speed. Once the system was charged and operating properly, they confirmed this by unplugging that fan when the noise was happening. They also took the time to show me. So, that is a huge relief to know the noise is not the compressor but, just a failing fan motor (cheap fix). They wanted $766 to replace the fan assembly. I found them online for $120. So, I plan to go ahead and do that myself.

Still..... I'm 99% sure the evaporator has failed, because ever since all of this has started, there has been a foul smell coming from the AC vents inside the car. As mentioned above, if it does turn out to be a slow leaker, I'll milk it for a while. But, if it leaks out fast we got to do something. It has been in the upper 80's and low 90's every day for the past week. Partial cold front for the next couple days, so some relief. The problem is that we cannot defog the windshield driving through a thunderstorm in this heat. We drive through them almost daily since we drive so far and so much.

 

Your foul odor might be mold growing in the evaporator. Their are several threads on how to clean it. There have also been cases where "critters" have died in hard to find places and will give off a delightful odor until they are removed....

 

OK, finally I can say something useful:
http://www.autobarn.net/lubegard-hea...fY8aArFw8P8HAQ

You spray foam into the ac core via drain tube and it cleans everything. Then you spray some odor killer via cowl vents. Toyota actually used to have same thing - much more expensive of course - sold at dealerships.

https://www.google.com/?gws_rd=ssl#q...l+kit&tbm=shop