Opinion needed - Repair shop wants to replace my A/C Amplifier
#1
Registered User
Thread Starter
Join Date: Jun 2009
Location: Hilo, Hawaii
Posts: 6
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Opinion needed - Repair shop wants to replace my A/C Amplifier
I've bought my '88 4Runner V6 4x4 a couple months back and have slowly been trying to restore it back to "health" (it was severely neglected for quite a while). The A/C worked great up until a few weeks ago when I went on a road-trip to the other side of the island and it started to cycle on and off. I searched the forums and found a lot of posts where people had problems after the conversion (to R134) or had bad compressors or fuses blowing... but nothing about an A/C Amplifier breaking or being a fix.
Anyway I took the risk and had a local shop upgrade and recharge my A/C system. They call me a couple hours into the job to say that the compressor is not getting power. After further research they say that my A/C Amplifier must be broken and is not giving power to the compressor (they are a legit shop and apparently did a lot of testing). They are quoting me $150 for the part and around $200 to put it in... so total of around $380 to have a system that *should* work (no guarantees of course).
Does anyone think this sounds reasonable or could they be missing the mark completely? I just want to avoid spending a decent chunk of money and then having them come back and say "well now we need to replace the compressor" and etc, etc.
Thanks in advance for any input!
Anyway I took the risk and had a local shop upgrade and recharge my A/C system. They call me a couple hours into the job to say that the compressor is not getting power. After further research they say that my A/C Amplifier must be broken and is not giving power to the compressor (they are a legit shop and apparently did a lot of testing). They are quoting me $150 for the part and around $200 to put it in... so total of around $380 to have a system that *should* work (no guarantees of course).
Does anyone think this sounds reasonable or could they be missing the mark completely? I just want to avoid spending a decent chunk of money and then having them come back and say "well now we need to replace the compressor" and etc, etc.
Thanks in advance for any input!
#2
Registered User
It may have an A/C amplifier, who knows? I have never heard of such a thing though. Maybe someone else can help you. They could just run a hot wire directly to the compressor to see if the clutch will engage.
#3
Registered User
iTrader: (1)
There is a AC amplifier in my 87 The 88 book is in the lawn shed.
To me it looks more like the AC computer because it has a whole bunch of controls going through it.
You might want to ask if they have checked the compressor clutch and the rest of the system so you don`t have to buy all new parts one piece at a time.
I will tell you that mine has been bypassed and seems to work just fine no doubt needs a recharge,
To me it looks more like the AC computer because it has a whole bunch of controls going through it.
You might want to ask if they have checked the compressor clutch and the rest of the system so you don`t have to buy all new parts one piece at a time.
I will tell you that mine has been bypassed and seems to work just fine no doubt needs a recharge,
#4
Registered User
Thread Starter
Join Date: Jun 2009
Location: Hilo, Hawaii
Posts: 6
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Hmm, so you bypassed yours? How did you do that and does it work ok?
I tried to drill the guy after reading the forum posts and they kept shutting me down saying stuff like "the compressor isn't getting power, that's the problem".
Thanks!
I tried to drill the guy after reading the forum posts and they kept shutting me down saying stuff like "the compressor isn't getting power, that's the problem".
Thanks!
#5
Registered User
You could run a hot wire to the compressor clutch & use a toggle switch or run it into the factory dash switch. The only bad thing there is that your compressor wont cycle & it may get too cold & the low side pressure may drop too low. You would pretty much have to manually switch it off when it got too cold.
#6
Registered User
iTrader: (1)
I don`t like how they are stating just the compressor is not getting power .
If you were my customer I would say I have checked the clutch it does pull in . then I check the low pressure switch that works like it should the Ac cut out relay also works . Which leads me to think it is the AC amplifier that is causing the problem.
The first thing they should have done is pull a vacuum to find out if you had a major leak. then went from there.
This is the price you have to pay sometimes . I would guess AC techs over there feel they are above whatever God .
About all I can do from like 4000 miles away
If you were my customer I would say I have checked the clutch it does pull in . then I check the low pressure switch that works like it should the Ac cut out relay also works . Which leads me to think it is the AC amplifier that is causing the problem.
The first thing they should have done is pull a vacuum to find out if you had a major leak. then went from there.
This is the price you have to pay sometimes . I would guess AC techs over there feel they are above whatever God .
About all I can do from like 4000 miles away
Thread
Thread Starter
Forum
Replies
Last Post
1988, 4runner, 4x4, 93, 96, ac, amplifier, board, change, forerunner, replacement, replacing, switch, toyota, toyotaparts