MK IV Air conditioning experience

[Malc]

52 minutes ago, Nick W858 said:

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

Not really, your car could be absolutely fine with the cambelt, pulleys and waterpump being dealt with every 10 years / 100k miles  ( as in the USA with exactly the same car tbh ) and therefore you're not 16k miles overdue but possibly  21k miles underdue 

when my cambelt was last changed it looked quite absolutely fine at 100.5k miles use and 11 years old ...........  new serpentine belt then too

But it's your money and you know her best and how deep your pockets are  ....................  Lexus main dealer will often just try to frighten and screw every last ounce out of your wallet !

Malc

[RgrWynne]

1 hour ago, Nick W858 said:

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.

Never heard that before. There is a school of thought that you do it periodically, probably beginning of season, to clear out bacteria, but also never done that in any cars, without any problems.

[39buss]

The refrigerant has lubricant and dye in it so it lubes the system and all the working bits and spills the dye when it leaks and can be seen with an ultra violet light. 

[shanra]

On 4/2/2019 at 4:22 PM, Nick W858 said:

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

I had the condenser replaced a couple of years ago and I had to replace one of the pipe/unions (shown in photos) as the A/C person damaged it when taking it apart. If you are going to get it done Rockauto is the place to buy your Denso condenser and I would spray the union/joint with a good penetrating spray for a few days before the A/C people work on it, because as was mentioned before it will very likely be fused together.

[Nick W858]

Thanks John - good tip, I have not booked the car in yet, typical as we approach a heatwave! I have looked on rock auto and the prices of the condenser look good, if I can get a good independent to sort it at a reasonable cost then definitely worth fixing. I am thinking of treating myself to a new car if I manage to get a job when my company makes its announcements on the 1st May, or if I don't get a job will be keeping the LS or getting something like a Yaris hybrid for the school run!