Air conditioning

[Ageboy Lurker Find all posts View Profile Close Ageboy]

Hi all,

i have a prado 2010 GX 150 which now has no air conditioning, I had the system re-gassed 7 months ago with a dye added to identity if it was leaking from anywhere. Now I get barely cool air, I have checked the sight glass and do see minor bubbles but the discharge hose from the compressor is not cool at all, I’m thinking it may be the compressor as I can’t find any leaks on the piping, although I haven’t been able to check under the dash (which does seems to be a fairly common problem with the evaporators on other models)

any ideas what to check or look for?

[Bear63 Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Bear63]

Evaporator the most likely suspect, the dye will show up the leak with a UV light

[Ageboy Lurker Find all posts View Profile Close Ageboy]

Thanks for the reply Bear, i wasn’t aware I needed a UV light to see the dye (I’ll get one) If the evaporator is leaking would the cooling efficiency slowly deteriorate? I would expect the discharge hose from the compressor to still be cool as there is still gas in the system.

i have just checked the temperature dial as it was pushed in, but it seems it still should operate as normal as it can still control the variable resistor on the PCB (pictured).

[Bear63 Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Bear63]

You will need the glasses to so you don't damage your eyes, The discharge hose should be hot to touch and the suction hose near the firewall quite cold ,(rule of thumb)if the evaporator is leaking it will also collect all the dust on the fins from the oil and restrict the airflow too, best way is to get some gauges put on it and see whats happening

[Ageboy Lurker Find all posts View Profile Close Ageboy]

Work in progress, I have ordered a UV torch (hard to get in Darwin) and removed interior covers and glovebox off to have a look, I assume the evaporator is in the air box? I can see a bit of oily grim around the pipes where they enter the air box, but there is a foam insulation around them. Does the evaporator unbolt from the outside of the firewall? I’ve been trying to find info on it but can’t find any general arrangement drawings of the air box setup. Another post on here gives great advice to remove the evaporator through the glovebox area, but I’m not sure if the evaporator can be pulled out without removal of the air box.

Found a nice pic of the AC system which may help a few other AC novices like myself

[Adventuretime Lurker Find all posts View Profile Close Adventuretime]

I’ve got a pretty similar issue where I need to replace the evaporator. I’ve ordered a Denso evaporator off eBay. Found a thread for a 120 about removing it without taking out the whole dash but unsure if it’s the same for a 150? Anyone happened to remove the evap without taking the whole dash out?

[Ageboy Lurker Find all posts View Profile Close Ageboy]

So finally got a UV light, have checked all pipe work and parts I can access and cannot find any leak, I can’t see the evaporator as it’s inside the hvac box, basically looking at $16-1700 job as I can’t find anyone who can do without removing the dash (over the phone).

Next step will be to get a AC bloke to do diagnostic with a sniffer for $80 to confirm where it’s leaking.

still searching for someone who can do it without dash removal around Darwin

[Adventuretime Lurker Find all posts View Profile Close Adventuretime]

So finally got a UV light, have checked all pipe work and parts I can access and cannot find any leak, I can’t see the evaporator as it’s inside the hvac box, basically looking at $16-1700 job as I can’t find anyone who can do without removing the dash (over the phone).

Next step will be to get a AC bloke to do diagnostic with a sniffer for $80 to confirm where it’s leaking.

still searching for someone who can do it without dash removal around Darwin

Have you checked under the car? Mine was coming out of the wate drain pipe, maybe check that?

[Ageboy Lurker Find all posts View Profile Close Ageboy]

Had a guy put a boroscope in found the leak in the evaporator (no sign of dye in the drain hose) bit the bullet and got them to do the job, now upon picking the car up it take 30sec to 1 min for the AC to turn on, before it use to start straight away, now to top it off went camping tried to use my light bar and it blew the left high beam fuse, lost panel display (fixed these out bush) lost electric windows and AC again. Seems something has been put back together wrong

[perryjanie Lurker Find all posts View Profile Close perryjanie]

If you're still having trouble, it might be a good idea to bring your car to a professional HVAC technician who can take a closer look and diagnose the problem. They might need to do a more thorough check to find the root of the issue. By the way, if you're interested in becoming an HVAC technician yourself, you should check out the licensing requirements for your state at https://www.hvacschools411.com/licensing-requirements/. Did you know that the highest salaries are in District of Columbia for HVAC technicians? It might be worth looking into if you're considering a career change!