aowRS

I've owned my 4Runner since new. Five or six years ago the A/C stopped cooling so I took it to a local shop to have the leak found and the system recharged. They were unable to identify a leak, so the system was recharged and I was sent on my way. This lasted a year or so and I was back for the same issue. Without looking at my records, I think I did that nonsense three times. Then I wised up and started recharging the system at home with the typical $40 over-the-counter remedies.

Fast forward to a few weeks ago when we're on a weeklong vacation in the mountains of NC, 10 hours from home. As luck would have it, the A/C gives up the ghost the day after we arrive. So I scramble to find an Advance Auto, pick up a recharge kit, and do what I've done numerous times before. I was a hero in the eyes of my wife and the kids. Next morning, no A/C...

After returning from our trip, I ordered all new Denso components: compressor, condenser, dryer, evaporator and switching valve. I found this thread which gave a basic overview of the process: http://www.toyota-4runner.org/3rd-ge...r-limited.html

On Sunday I jumped into the repair and was able to successfully remove the evaporator housing from behind/underneath the glovebox. What I found inside explained all of the issues I've had for years. The next day I tackled the compressor, dryer and condenser replacement. Once I was satisfied that the system was correctly back together, I made an appointment with a different shop that I trust.

I ran the truck there today and left after a few hours - freezing my ass off on the ride home! I'll let the pics tell the rest of the story:

























Andreas

Charchee

Why in the world did you order a new compressor, condenser and switching valve when your plugged up and leaking evap was the issue? The expansion valve and dryer I understand. I must be missing something.

aowRS

15+ years and 363,000 miles. The last thing I wanted to do was only replace one or two components only to have the compressor fail a year later. Seemed like false economy to me considering that I was able to purchase all of the replacement Denso parts for less than $500.



Andreas

amalik

I think you did the right thing. Enjoy another 15 years.

Marc

Good job, well done.
Around here it costs around $150 each time you get the A/C looked at whether they fix anything or not.
They have to evacuate it and then put a vacuum on it to check for leaks before they can check it out.

The only alternative is the DIY kit which gets old if you have to refill it every day.

aowRS

The shop I took it to yesterday spent about two hours pulling vacuum, leak checking, & recharging. The total was $144, which I was happy to pay after years of pissing away money on band aid fixes.




Andreas

Cactushead

Because he only does things the correct way the first time. Crazy all of those parts were $500. If you had all of this replaced at the dealer you would have a very large anal cavity.

aowRS

^






Andreas

Charchee

You're probably right. I guess when I replace my sticky brake caliper next week, I'll go ahead and buy a master cylinder, booster, rotors, drums and about 40 feet of brake line.

I'm just kidding. I do a lot of ac work on the fleet of equipment and trucks I manage so replacing parts, vacuuming them out and tuning them up isn't that bad of a chore to me but without all of the tools and equipment, I'd probably do exactly what you did. Great job, by the way, on going straight to your problem part.

FYI though guys, I was in the AC repair business for years and I have purchased new, OEM compressors that leaked around the shaft seal and can't tell you how many condensers I've seen crack around the fittings during installation, even when the utmost care was taken not to torque the end of the tube. At every point you put a wrench on an ac system, there are a hundred things that might cause a leak and most of them don't show up for a week or two. Pitting in a line fitting, a defective o-ring, over tightening of the joint, under-tightening of the joint, cross-threading the fitting, etc. Those issues and a bunch of others are the reason I asked the question. Wasn't trying to suggest you were doing something wrong and I'm glad everything went ok.

aowRS

^ I appreciate your thoughts. Hopefully the Denso components I purchased were in line with the level of quality Toyota originally sourced from them when the truck was built (that's questionable these days). I did use a great deal of care when disassembling each connection, bench flushed the individual lines, and cleaned & oiled every connection before fitting new o-rings. The general flimsiness of the condenser and hard lines is somewhat alarming, but is probably the norm.

Regardless, I hope I did my part correctly, as I have serious doubts whether a Toyota dealership or other shop should take a fraction of the care I did.




Andreas

KZN185W

iTrader: (1)

On the first pic, what is the silver thing at the evaporator location? it's the one with the half circle thingy.

Thanks!

Charchee

That's exactly what I was talking about. I can't hardly ever farm out ac work because of what you said there. The shops don't take the care that an owner would when dealing with these delicate parts. This kind of care is necessary if you want to go another 15 years with your new parts. I'm sure you did a great job on all of it. The one thing you might look back at is any of the hose hold down clips that you removed and make sure they are back where they were before. I've had the tube ends crack on two condensers due to just the vibration of the hoses that were connected to them. The clips were not on there when I diagnosed it and didn't notice any evidence that one had ever been there so I didn't install it. I had the Kenworth dealership fax me a diagram of the hoses and saw what I was missing. I installed the hold down and have had no issues since. They also keep your lines isolated from anything they could rub against. This is another common cause of ac failures but they don't happen quickly enough to pin it back on the shop that installed the lines.

aowRS

One of the two holes in the firewall for the A/C lines.



Andreas

aowRS

Creeping up on a year since this work and the A/C continues to function perfectly.



Andreas