looking for some troubleshooting help. i'm on the road without my FSM. '87 4runner, 22re, 5-speed.

prior to trip, compressor cycled correctly, even though freon charge was low. had the system charged, and it worked well, nice cold air.

worked for about two weeks, now the compressor will not engage when the button is pushed.

for reference, the a/c button lights up when pushed "on", the belt is snug and intact, the blower works for all 4 positions.

this isn't an emergency, just a convenience issue, as i'm in the south west US over the next three weeks, and it is warm out here.

thanks for any help,

wally

 

on a side note, the 4runner has otherwise performed well part-way through a 7000 mile plus round trip. this western heat, with steep mtn grades, has been a good torture test.

i replaced the clutch 4 days before the trip. had a minor coolant leak, which turned out to be one of the heater hose clamps, and after a tiny adjustment, no more coolant loss, even with consistent 100 degree daytime temps.

although slow, it goes straight and smooth down the road. i've been averaging close to 24 mpg over 2500 miles, with a cargo of at least 500 lbs.

i-70 west from denver was a hoot, i could barely do 30 on the climb up to eisenhower tunnel. mostly have avoide interstates, and instead have used secodary highways - US 6, US 40' etc.

 

My guess is that you have a leak (duh! That's why your freon charge was low. Around here, it's considered to be very bad form to just shove in freon w/o finding the leak.) Your leak probably just got worse (higher pressure from your recharge could easily have done it). Now the pressure is so low the pressure switch keeps the compressor from running.

You could diagnose that with a set of gauges (technically, you could use the sight glass, but that's an iffy way to begin with). You could find the leak by adding UV dye to a shot of freon. But the most efficient way is to take it to an A/C shop; they already have the gauges, the dye, and unlike me, they know what they are doing.

Good luck!

 

sounds plausible. sight glass is difficult to use if the compressor won't cycle.

if i run across an AC shop, i might stop.

 

back home on the east coast. never found a shop that could deal with r12, so the a/c remains in limbo. as for the trip, the runner covered the 8400 miles well, averaging 22 mpg. needed to replace one headlight during the trip. no flat tires.

water pump failed overnight in my driveway, so i replaced that yesterday. it was probably the original, as it had "toyota" cast in it, and i bought the runner with only 97k miles on it (has 153k now).