Air Conditioner

[jmichaels Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close jmichaels]

Hello,

I live in Kenya.

Drive a 2003 Prado TZ.

The Air Conditioner was blowing warm air.

It was noticeably warmer on the passenger side than the driver side(no, the DUAL button was not engaged).

I recently recharged it by a local mechanic two weeks ago. He checked the pressure and said it was good.

Now, it is blowing warm air again.

Any suggestions?

[LeighW Avid PP Poster! Find all posts View Profile Close LeighW]

Why did you have it recharged, if you had it recharged due to a leak it
would appear to still have one!

[jmichaels Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close jmichaels]

Why did you have it recharged, if you had it recharged due to a leak it
would appear to still have one!

I got it recharged because I trusted what the mechanic told me(and I am an idiot who knows nothing about cars).

He had his machine hooked up to the system and said there wasn't a leak.

If there is a leak, how do I know where to find it?

This Kenyan mechanic is coming back today to look everything over and I need to sound like I know something.

Please help me out Prado Point brothers.

[LeighW Avid PP Poster! Find all posts View Profile Close LeighW]

Honestly you would be better off taking the car to a auto airconditioning specialist,
they will be able to evacuate the system if required and test for a leak, ie pump out
the gas and or air, leave sit for a period of time and see if the vacuum holds.

There is also gear avaailable to detect the leaking gas, another way is to charge
the system with gas that has a dye in it and them wait to see where the die leaks
from.

Cheers
Leigh

[245coop Lurker Find all posts View Profile Close 245coop]

no guarantees, but sounds very similar to what I've just had. Very small leak from the evaporator, that wasn't picked up in the first leak check. Recharged with UV dye gas which kept things cool fro just over a week. Had a search for the leak then and only picked up a small amount of dye on the chassis rail under the condensate drain. hope this helps

[jmichaels Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close jmichaels]

Honestly you would be better off taking the car to a auto airconditioning specialist,
they will be able to evacuate the system if required and test for a leak, ie pump out
the gas and or air, leave sit for a period of time and see if the vacuum holds.

There is also gear avaailable to detect the leaking gas, another way is to charge
the system with gas that has a dye in it and them wait to see where the die leaks
from.

Cheers
Leigh

Thanks for your advice. This mechanic(air conditioning guy) had a pressure gauge.

Now he tells me I must replace the behind-the-dashboard evaporator.

I called up the Toyota dealership to inquire about the cost of this part. They want 90,000Kh(basically $USD1000). Yikes!

Toyota says I should go to an air-conditioning specialist.

[jmichaels Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close jmichaels]

Thanks for your words. Sounds like you have a similar situation as me. My mechanic is telling me to replace the evaporator that wasn't picked up on the first leak check. Hopefully a visit to an air-conditioner specialist will solve my problem.

[AJ120 Out of control poster! Find all posts View Profile Close AJ120]

If you have a bad leak in an air con system it will eventually turn things a green colour around where the leak is, look over all the air con hoses and the pump etc as best you can and check for any green discolouring, particularly at joins.

Otherwise an aircon specialist is likely your best bet.

Cheers Andrew

[ASM Lurker Find all posts View Profile Close ASM]

My ac is doing the same. Has a leak that can not be located under the bonnet. Thus, the leak must be some where behind the dashboard. Has anyone found an economical air con repair in Melbourne who is capable of fixing this issue?

[tcbates Lurker Find all posts View Profile Close tcbates]

Prado 120 aircon issue

My ac is doing the same. Has a leak that can not be located under the bonnet. Thus, the leak must be some where behind the dashboard. Has anyone found an economical air con repair in Melbourne who is capable of fixing this issue?

I have same issue - been back to aircon specialist 4 times and now he says it is probably under dash and he says to take it back to Toyota. Wonderng if you had yours fixed and cost. cheers Troy

[Blair1604 Lurker Find all posts View Profile Close Blair1604]

no guarantees, but sounds very similar to what I've just had. Very small leak from the evaporator, that wasn't picked up in the first leak check. Recharged with UV dye gas which kept things cool fro just over a week. Had a search for the leak then and only picked up a small amount of dye on the chassis rail under the condensate drain. hope this helps

Hi, did you end up having to get the evaporator replaced? if so, for how much? and do you know if they had to remove the whole dash?

I've had a mechanic, through trial and error it seems, replace the condenser and the compressor. He now thinks the evaporator behind the dash is at fault and is wanting $1500 !

[Blair1604 Lurker Find all posts View Profile Close Blair1604]

I have same issue - been back to aircon specialist 4 times and now he says it is probably under dash and he says to take it back to Toyota. Wonderng if you had yours fixed and cost. cheers Troy

Did you have any luck getting the evaporator fixed?