Air-Con

[BigBoomer]

My air-con stopped again (just before our holiday in France), so I passed it to my local friendly independent garage /air-con specialist and they are quoting me £1400 for a new compressor and condenser including fitting and re-gas. I'm not sure why they need to do the condenser as it was not leaking (already had the gas/pressure checked elsewhere).
I've searched for these parts and some places say 2000-2006 is the same part, whilst others say 2000-2003 and 2004-2006 are different parts.
So, I am after part numbers for these bits if anyone has them so I can research the parts online, as am considering getting a re-manufactured compressor.
The car is an early 2004 face-lift and I don't want to pay a kings ransom for new parts that total half what the car is worth.

[ambermarine]

George

Check out  www. toyodiy.com you will get the correct part numbers for your particular model with vin or year input.

You can then look for them in numerous places here and abroad.

[Malc]

is Paul Frost able too supply ?

Malc

[skyway]

I bought and fitted a condenser and compressor to my old ls430 bought from Paul Frost except the after market condenser which I bought from eBay usa which was £65 with postage included and even a life time warranty not that thats going to be of much use... but the job went well and even regassed it myself an easy job after someone on the forum told me about Halfords selling the kit to do it.

It does sound like the garage are trying to pull a fast one though.

The aircon specialist (yeah right) I took mine to tried to charge me 1500 for the work and said there would be no guarantee and more work might have to be done, the car cost me 1600 so.... what harm could I do if I did it myself i though.

I always thought that the aircon system was not to be touched by the likes of me but it turns out that its not that complicated.

[steve2006]

Don’t forget that the 430 is prone to the rear AC pipes corroding leading to a loss of gas, with your quote George I would be checking this and look for another “specialist”

George if you PM your VIN I will look up the correct part numbers for you.

[BigBoomer]

Thanks all,

Phil's link to Toyodiy.com gave me the part numbers needed.
Cheapest Compressor I have found is here
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/32954661544.html
Not sure about the quality, but then half of those on eBay probably originated from China. 🙂
If it lasts 5 years then that'll take me to over 200k miles on the car.
Otherwise I can get an OE one for £430 delivered.
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/FOR-8831050150-88310-50151-88310-50152-NEW-ORIGINAL-AC-AIR-CONDITION-COMPRESSOR/292787122005?hash=item442b78ef55:g:S-IAAOSwMO9b0ZOz

I am still dubious about the condenser needing to be replaced as I had the system checked elsewhere and they asked if it had rear air-con.
Apparently the system takes 600ml of coolant if not, and 900ml if fitted with rear air-con.
He came back and said he had pulled out and put back 900ml of coolant and there were no leaks anywhere (vacuum leak-down test)
If it does need a replacement condenser I can get it for around £100 delivered.

 

[steve2006]

I would feel the same regarding the condenser replacement, especially with no detected leaks, compressor is another matter but is more likely to be an electrical fault than mechanical. I don’t know if is is physically possible to check but is the clutch engaging? ( there is normally a slight increase in engine RPM at tick over when it is running the compressor).

[BigBoomer]

Hi Steve, it is an electrical fault in the compressor and no the clutch is not engaging at all.
I did ask if the part that's failed (I assume a solenoid) could be replaced but was told it's an integral part of the compressor.
It could even be a wiring fault somewhere so when I get the car back I'm gonna check over the wiring myself.

[DaKa]

If you don't get satisfaction, I can recommend a place based in Benfleet Essex, 'Bonair AC specialist' that I used a few years ago when my LS430 rear AC pipe was damaged accidentally.

They replaced the condensor (Lexus original) blanked off the rear AC (as the damaged pipe was above the rear diff and inaccessible for economc repair).

The cost was circa £500 but 3 years on the AC is still super cold and I don;t miss the rear AC at all.

If a pipe is damaged and accesible for repair, there are some excellent splicing kits for £20-30 - they work, but never ever use for brake pipes.

[BigBoomer]

Hi Damien, it is Bonair in Benfleet who want me to pay £1400 to replace the compressor and condenser.

I think their parts prices are somewhat inflated although they do good work.

[messi]

Try replacing the relay for the air con first.

I remember on the ls400 they thought it was a big job to get the air con working, all it was was an o ring leaking which cost me 90p for a set and air con relay which is label mgt in the engine bay