MK IV Air conditioning experience

[Nick W858]

A few weeks ago on one of the first warmish days of the year I noticed the air con was not as cold as usual. Had a regas done which improved things dramatically but noticed again yesterday at 17c outside that I was back to square one and even on MAX cold setting it was only cool (ish).

i have the old girl booked in for a general inspection at Lexus Hull on Friday as I was curious as to generally what they make of the condition of key components given the vehicle has not been near a Lexus dealer for quite a few years. I will ask them to look at the air con issue but wondered if anyone had experience of issues and what the problem was and how expensive it was to fix. I'm slowly coming to a point in which I may move the car on for something newer and obviously if the air con issue and anything the dealer finds makes it a viable proposition to keep or sell. I am aware the dealer is likely to come up with a lengthy list!

Thanks in advance

[cruisermark]

HI Nick

This sounds like a leak in the system - this can be easily fixed by tracing the leak and carrying out a repair and then re-gassing.

[steve2006]

I was under the impression that it was a legal requirement that the system was checked for leaks and repaired as necessary before the refrigerant gas was replaced or as in your case the new stuff has again appeared to have all leaked out. Was the re-gas carried out by a registered  business?

[harrylime]

I had exactly the same issue. One garage had several attempts at resolving it. I then tried an electrical and aircon specialist in Rotherham, who replaced many seals and O rings. That sorted it out 

[messi]

It's a leak, one of the o rings must be leaking, it happened to mine, I replaced the o ring and it sorted it.

[Malc]

I fail to see how a Lexus dealer could realistically sort out a challenging aircon issue when they would presumably just send it to a specialist to sort it out ...............  and add their margin 

I hope I'm wrong and that they do manage to fix it at a sensible price

Malc

[Nick W858]

Thanks Malc I don’t disagree. Car is booked in anyway for an inspection- will be interesting to see what they come up with.

[Nick W858]

On 3/31/2019 at 4:17 PM, cruisermark said:

HI Nick

This sounds like a leak in the system - this can be easily fixed by tracing the leak and carrying out a repair and then re-gassing.

Thanks yes I’m hoping it’s relatively simple. Still outraged that there is an issue with it - car is ‘only’ 21 yrs old!

[Nick W858]

22 hours ago, messi said:

It's a leak, one of the o rings must be leaking, it happened to mine, I replaced the o ring and it sorted it.

Thanks Messi - hope that’s it

[39buss]

https://s778.photobucket.com/user/39buss/media/ACUnion001_2.jpg.html    

 

http://s778.photobucket.com/user/39buss/media/ACUnion002.jpg.html

This is what the seals and unions look like after years of use.  Be very very careful loosening the unions as they weld themselves to the union block ( dissimilar metals, electrolytic reaction )

[Nick W858]

6 hours ago, 39buss said:

https://s778.photobucket.com/user/39buss/media/ACUnion001_2.jpg.html    

 

http://s778.photobucket.com/user/39buss/media/ACUnion002.jpg.html

This is what the seals and unions look like after years of use.  Be very very careful loosening the unions as they weld themselves to the union block ( dissimilar metals, electrolytic reaction )

Thanks Jim - it definitely won’t be me loosening anything, hopefully the professionals will know the potential pitfalls you mention.

[messi]

That's was exactly where the seals on my ls400 perished, went to Halfords, got a small box of air con seals for about a £1.50, did the work myself and it took my about 15-20 mins to sort out.

[Nick W858]

Well the dealer has given the car a thorough inspection and to be fair they did not charge me a penny and gave it a lovely valet.The bad news was that the air con is the condenser which is basically corroded away and very costly to replace and I was told there is a serious risk that if trying to replace it that all kinds of other issues could arise because of all the various bits and pieces around it that are rusted/locked solid. I was also shown all kinds of photographs from under the car again pointing out corrosion and potential suspension issues. Basically the message was along the lines of don't bother to spend any money on the car and be prepared to buy another car and/or just see how long you can run it for without spending money and just wait until there is a terminal failure.

I was told it might be worth a mechanically minded individual doing their own restoration but that is definitely not something I could do. Will see how my job situation pans out but am tempted just to run it until it dies, next MOT not until Nov so that could be a pivotal point. Car is coming up 21 and has almost 300k on the clock and has served me brilliantly for past 16 years and I guess nothing lasts forever.

[RgrWynne]

2 hours ago, Nick W858 said:

t. Car is coming up 21 and has almost 300k on the clock and has served me brilliantly for past 16 years and I guess nothing lasts forever.

That is amazing, does not really owe you much, and I bet not cost you much, and possibly in the hands of an able self mechanic type will go on 👍

[Malc]

I'd be inclined to just abandon the aircon then ( like I did a few years ago now ) ......  and see what the next lot of MOT Advisories might be

what were the last MOT Advisories  ? and at what miles ?

mine's now turning 219k miles and this last 12 months I spent @£2k on 4 x new tyres, cambelt, pulleys, waterpump, Toyota/Lexus UCAs ( all 4 )  and drop links at the front , oh and a full service and MOT incl front discs and pads too ..........  she's good for another 10 years and 100k miles methinks

lived beside the seaside for at least 10 years too and no rust to speak of I believe

Malc

[messi]

The air con condenser is around £60 from rockauto, and it's a denso condenser, why not just buy it from there and have it replaced?

[Nick W858]

Thanks Messi - that sounds more appealing- it can still blow quite cool but it has not been exactly tropical recently so not sure how effective it would be on a hot summers day so I do need to replace it - think I need to approach a local air conditioning specialist rather than rely on the main dealer.

[messi]

To be honest I still think it's those small o rings that need replacing , your air con has the same mine did.

[Nick W858]

1 hour ago, Malc said:

I'd be inclined to just abandon the aircon then ( like I did a few years ago now ) ......  and see what the next lot of MOT Advisories might be

what were the last MOT Advisories  ? and at what miles ?

mine's now turning 219k miles and this last 12 months I spent @£2k on 4 x new tyres, cambelt, pulleys, waterpump, Toyota/Lexus UCAs ( all 4 )  and drop links at the front , oh and a full service and MOT incl front discs and pads too ..........  she's good for another 10 years and 100k miles methinks

lived beside the seaside for at least 10 years too and no rust to speak of I believe

Malc

Thanks Malc - am inclined to agree, there were a few advisories but nothing too drastic, must admit my cam belt is overdue but not sure I think changing it will be worth the expense.

[Malc]

cambelt is overdue once it's not been changed for 10 years / 100k miles

Malc

[Nick W858]

Thanks Malc - it has been done three times while I have owned the car - it's every 63k miles on my model and last time it had done about 254k so I'm around 16k miles overdue

[Hadrian]

There is a school of thought that suggests you should always leave your aircon turned on (even in winter). To prevent seals "drying" out.

How true this is in practice I have no idea.

[RgrWynne]

I always leave my aircon switched on all the time, winter and summer for that very reason. I don’t know of a reason for doing otherwise, there is minimal cost involved.

[Nick W858]

15 hours ago, RgrWynne said:

That is amazing, does not really owe you much, and I bet not cost you much, and possibly in the hands of an able self mechanic type will go on 👍

Thanks, yes I paid £8k for her around 16 years ago so even considering she’s worth next to nothing now it still works out at only a tenner per week in depreciation!

[Nick W858]

15 minutes ago, Hadrian said:

There is a school of thought that suggests you should always leave your aircon turned on (even in winter). To prevent seals "drying" out.

How true this is in practice I have no idea.

Yes I have never switched mine off. However I have not been running it on max hot and max cold once a week which is what some are saying I should be doing.