Hey y'all, found someone with same year (1988) pickup sitting in a field that had A/C while it was running. I can go over this weekend and pull and buy parts. What is worth taking, is there a schematic somewhere to help me identify the parts I should grab?

I am an ok mechanic, with the right tools and a shop, I've been able to change timing belts, brakes all day long, light duty stuff but I have never messed with an A/C. Living in Texas though, I really want to roll these windows up sometimes and crank up the A/C!

Any help SO appreciated!!! - Can't wait to have enough posts so that I can show you my recently acquired rig!

 

What engine do you have? 22R, 22R-E or 3VZ-E?

How long has the donor truck been sitting?

Do you know if the A/C system is still holding a charge? I am a little hesitant saying what parts you should take because the condition of the A/C system is unknown to me. You could have a bunch of perfectly fine used parts or mostly junk, used up parts.

If the donor still has a charge, you need to have the system professionally evacuated before removing parts from the system. It is the law.

You should remove or at least inspect and consider taking the following from the donor truck, depending on part condition. If the system does not have a charge on the system or cannot hold a charge, you will want to determine the failed part(s).

• Condenser and associated brackets. If the condenser looks like it has seen better days, now would be the time to replace. If the condenser looks to be in good shape and does not leak, it is okay to use
• All hard metal refrigerant lines and retaining brackets
• The flexible lines if they are still in good shape; buy new flexible lines of the donor hoses leak or look dry rotted.
• compressor (this could be hit or miss, you don't know how much life the compressor has in it, usually the clutch, which can be replaced by itself, wears out)
  • Compressor bracket and hardware
  • Keep the idler pulley too. If it is not easy to turn or smooth when you turn it, the idler pulley needs to be replaced.
  • If you have the 22R, you will need to take the short wiring harness that connects from the compressor lead to the rest of the harness. It has 3 connectors.
• The evaporator box under the dash
  • Make sure you keep the A/C amplifier (circuit board that is housed in the evaporator box) with the evaporator box
  • There is a small wiring harness that your truck doesn't have that goes between the dash harness and the A/C evaporator box. I would just keep the small wiring harness attached to the evaporator box and disconnect from the dash harness. See picture below.
  • Take the evaporator drain hose too.
  • If the hose grommets in the firewall are in good shape, take those with the hoses.
• The Air Conditioning on / off switch for the dash
• Bracket for the Receiver & Drier and related hardware
• Idle up vacuum switches and valves
• Lower radiator fan shroud piece if your truck does not have one

Things you should replace:

• All "O" ring seals
• Receiver & Dryer Canister
• It would be a good idea to change out the thermal expansion valve too, especially if you decide to replace the compressor (compressor warranties usually require this).
• Any other parts found to be bad by inspection
• You should flush the system if you found a catastrophic part failure or are installing a new compressor (again, compressor warranties usually require this).

Are you going to be recharging the system yourself or taking it into a shop after you install the parts?

Scope103 created a great thread about his A/C system and is a good read if you plan on doing this yourself: https://www.yotatech.com/forums/f116...-r134a-284801/



This is a general diagram of the A/C system (22R version shown) from a Dealership Install kit. Diagram found on Village Toyota: https://parts.villagetoyota.com/show...rimLevel=14034



When you have the evaporator box out of the donor truck, clean out the leaves and other debris that has stuck onto the evaporator core. Since there are no cabin air filters in this vintage of Toyota, all the junk that enters the vents get stuck here.
You will want to clean out the leaves and debris from your heater core before installing the evaporator box.

Terrys87 created a write up on how to clean the ventilation system: https://www.yotatech.com/forums/f116...trucks-286766/

I am sure I probably forgot something.......

By the way, you only need 15 posts to create a thread in the Classifieds section. You should be able to post everywhere else, including posting pictures.

 

Being serious here You might be ahead to buy one of the aftermarket AC systems.

This is quite a lot of work with unknown parts Just how long has this vehicle been sitting since the AC system was used??

Take your manifold gauges see if it is still holding pressure decide from there.

If the system is open getting it clean enough to ever work correct might be impossible

Just removing the Evap Coil might be enough to cause it to crack.

If this is your only option buy the whole truck and take it home

 

 

I've seen worse!
Did you get the A/C Amplifier (looks like maybe you did, but you don't have the needed view on the cooling unit).


This could be a fun project. Here's everything I know about A/C: https://www.yotatech.com/forums/f116...-r134a-284801/

 

 

the pressure switch and the expansion valve would be wise to replace - you would have to re-open the system in order to change them later. I just got some a/c parts from Oreilly & RockAuto for my 83 so you should have no problem finding them for 88.

Be sure to get R134 o-rings (green) so you can convert it to run on R134.

 

After getting mine in driving around with cold air was absolutely wonderful and exciting, it still brings a smile to my face when people are amazed I have A/C!!!

 

Hey! I have not seen you around here in a while!

 

 

Please continue to document your progress! My 4runner originally came with AC but was removed at some point. I'd like to add it back when I get some time to work on it.

 

While you are in a picture taking mood can you photograph these bolts? So if we ever under take this we can find the longer bolts. I have most of the parts but not the bolts.