Air Con Issue - White Mist From Passenger Side Vent Then Failure To Co

AntonyR · August 4, 2015

I have a Y plate ('01) Lexus IS 200 SE and have had an issue recently with the aircon system.

My wife and I noticed a white mist/gas emission (?) coming into the cabin from the passenger side central vent. Then the aircon system showed remarkably less cooling ability. After about 20 mins, there was cooler air coming from the passenger side vent vs. the driver side central vent. At the same time, and when the air con is switched on in the car now, there is quite a high-pithced squealing noise from behind the centre vent console somewhere. I ran the air con with the bonnet up and the noise is hard to pinpoint but is aggressive enough for me to be quite concerned about it (albeit from a position of very limited knowledge). When the air con button is switched off, the noise disappears completely. Is there a belt or fan that may be causing this noise and the air con system to not function correctly? What was the white mist/gas emitted into the cabin when the noise first appeared and the air con system stopped working effectively?

Currently, we have zero/very limited cooling from the system whatsoever. It is not noticeable either way really compared to how it should be. I have read a bit about this issue on other forum posts but not found the conclusive answer as to what it most likely could be.

http://www.lexusownersclub.co.uk/forum/topic/81830-air-con-compressor-clutch-pulley-bearing-a-positive-experience/ (??)

Any advice or points of view would be greatly appreciated. I am in SW11 (London) and if anyone knows of a decent aircon specialist within about a 45 min drive (who wouldn't rip my face off having a go at fixing it) then I would be keen to get their contact details. I always prefer to go armed with some info as to what the most likely issue is from the clever folk on this forum first though.

Many thanks in advance.

Antony.

ColinBarber · August 4, 2015

There could be a number of potential problems. Hopefully the mist was just water vapour. I'd suggest you don't turn on the AC until you get it looked at. Hopefully somebody can recommend somewhere near you.

Your local Toyota dealer should be able to do an AC service, typically for around £50 which is about the same as anywhere else. If there turns out to be a fault then you can always get the repairs done elsewhere.

steve2006 · August 4, 2015

As Colin suggests take it to an AC specialist, from the bit I know about AC the mist is normally due to the evaporator freezing up then the ice evaporating off it when the ambient warm heat hits it ( you often see this on aircraft when they have the AC running before take off).

AntonyR · August 4, 2015

Thank you both for your posts.

Very frustratingly, the Toyota garage at the top of Brixton Hill (closest to me) is owned by the same 'Jemca' Group who own the Lexus dealership in Croydon that I used to go to and therefore the Toyota dealership refuses to even look at my Lexus and keep telling me to go to Croydon instead, thereby trying to charge me as much as possible to get my car repaired. (Is that even a legal thing to do?!)

I need to find an independent air con specialist. I am tempted to go to the guy in Horley, nr. Gatwick, as I know someone on the forum posted that he had a decent experience there from an air con guy but it isn't exactly close by. Never mind, perhaps needs must and all that...

ColinBarber · August 4, 2015

(Is that even a legal thing to do?!)

Unfortunately it is and in theory Toyota dealers shouldn't be servicing Lexus vehicles for fear of losing their franchise. Having said that I would have thought they would perform an AC inspection for you, especially if you said you wouldn't be taking it to Lexus whether they refused to look at it or not :(

AntonyR · August 4, 2015

When I went there asking for them to take a look at my coolant leakage issue 6 months or so ago they ran a mile, metaphorically of course, as most of the people who worked there couldn't run 100 yards without some form of cardiac event. Anyway, it is a disgrace that garage 'groups' can discriminate in this way...it should be illegal, shouldn't it.

Thankfully it is pretty cool weather (and I have just returned from holiday in Spain where it was truly 'scorchio' this year) otherwise I would be in full 'no aircon panic' mode.

Thanks for your continued interest and feedback.

ColinBarber · August 4, 2015

Dealers have to purchase diagnostics information and tools, go on official training courses and have facilities to a minimum specification to be an official dealer. As part of this commitment Toyota GB protect them by not allowing standard Toyota dealers to service Lexus vehicles. There is nothing illegal about this because there is no monopoly, Lexus diagnostic information and tools are available for anybody to purchase and as a consumer you can look to thousands of independent service centres - it just isn't allowed as part of a Toyota dealership franchise.