A/C Outlet Temp ?

[jsk711 Lurker Find all posts View Profile Close jsk711]

Hi Guys
We have a 2007 D4D GXL Prado 120, Its just been into the dealer for its 30,000Kms service, We complained when it went in about the A/C not being cold enough and to be honest its not been that cold from new, but our recent trip to the flinders proved to be too warm inside the cabin, more so in the rear.
Now before it went in I checked with a probe type digital thermometer, A/C fully on to cold, recirc switch on, and fan on speed 2 and the lowest the temp got was 10.2 deg ?? then it hovered back up to 11.8deg this was constant wether travelling at 80Kms or stood idling.
The Toyota dealers have said thats all it should be ?? They are saying they have put dye in the system to check for leaks, and the correct amount of gas is in the system. We think we are being fobbed off.
Can anyone help us out here and check their prados to see what readings different owners come up with, My works ute is showing 6.2 degs !!!!!

many Thanks guys

Keith
SA

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

Re: A/C Outlet Temp ?

I dont know about others but compared to my old 98 GXL prado the aircond and ventilation in general is pretty poor in my 04 GXL.

[McBAIN Avid PP Poster! Find all posts View Profile Close McBAIN]

Re: A/C Outlet Temp ?

there were a couple of threads on this a while back but the search is not picking it up. mine runs at around 9-10 degrees on low fan (i have one of those inside/outside thermometers but given the outside one is redundant it sits in the aircon vent for novelty)

if i crank up the fan to 3 or 4 and run it for a while it can go as low as 6-7 degrees if not too hot outside.

[Guest Close Guest]

Re: A/C Outlet Temp ?

My Grande gets down to 2-4 degrees at the vent outlet.

[MickL Addicted PP Member Find all posts View Profile Close MickL]

Re: A/C Outlet Temp ?

2-4 degrees

Same with my GXL


At some stage there was a PDF going around about how to fix this, something to do with changing the position of the thermostat? I'm sure I have a copy somewhere. PM your Email address.

Mick

[Guest Close Guest]

Re: A/C Outlet Temp ?

Spot on Mick, Sounds like that is the issue.

[jsk711 Lurker Find all posts View Profile Close jsk711]

Re: A/C Outlet Temp ?

Hi Guys
Thanks for all your replys, We have had a 30deg day today so put the A/C to the test again, and the hotter the day the worse it gets could only drag the reading down to 14 degs today.
The Toyota dealership will be getting a call again monday morning !!
Mick I will mention this Thermister probe idea to them to see if they can thro any light on the problem, But i feel that because the vehicle is still under warranty its Toyota,s problem not mine.
Will keep you all informed as to how I go on with them.
Keith

[mumstruk Member Find all posts View Profile Close mumstruk]

Re: A/C Outlet Temp ?

My Grande runs at 2 to 3 at the vent in recirc mode. I'd like to know what the 'dye' is that they put in. The usual ways to find leaks in an A/C is with an electronic sniffer and / or fill the system with nitrogen, pressurise it and check the readings on the guages after a day or so. The sniffers are super sensitive and any A/C guy worth his salt will have one in his kit. It has a long flexible probe which you run over all the unions, pipe joints, evaporator and condensor, tx valve etc. It will start squeeling when it detects AC gas.
At full cold the AC should not be cycling much. The temp setting does not regulate the amount of cold, it comes out of the evaporator at usually the same "coldness" or temp. The temp setting adjusts the point at which the compressor (or rather it's clutch)turns on and off. The longer the compressor is on for, the colder the cabin temp. In a climate conrol type system the temp is also varied by opening the heater valve and mixing in a little warm air. This is a much simplified explanation as there is also pressure switches, thermistors and thermal explansion valves in the system as well.
None of this helps you but I would suggest getting a second opinion. Ask around for a reputable A/C firm/ mechanic. They will do the simple stuff first. Make sure you get them to test the heater valve as this may be leaking hot water through into the heater core, thus raising outlet vent temps. You can test this yourself by bypassing the heater core but I suspect that you'd rather not as this entails mucking around with the coolant system. This applies to standard and climate control systems.
If the heater valve is leaking hot coolant through into the heater core your AC may be in top operating condition and the Toyota guys will not find a problem with it. They will be looking in the wrong place. The smallest leak through the valve will affect the temps at the vent so I strongly suggest getting this checked.

PS. I am very wary of the so called Toyota experts. I recently had my Prado serviced by Toyota the day before we went on hols to Fraser Island. Imagine my horror when I discovered on the third day that the air box lid was not clipped down!!!! Luckily there was not much sand in the airbox when I discovered it.

[MickL Addicted PP Member Find all posts View Profile Close MickL]

Re: A/C Outlet Temp ?

Imagine my horror when I discovered on the third day that the air box lid was not clipped down!!!!

:shock: :shock: good old professional Toyota service for you...... what a bunch of goons...



The "dye" that put in is pretty common, It is often added as part of a regas/top up of the system. It shows up leaks when exposed to a UV light.

I don't know why the "sniffer" you mention is not often used by the automotive guys... I've seen them used often by industrial fridgies...

Mick

[Chuck Advanced Member Find all posts View Profile Close Chuck]

Re: A/C Outlet Temp ?

Will have to check the outlet temp out in mine, 42 degrees here today but icy cold in the Prado and the beers were pretty good at Whim Creek. :wink:

[mumstruk Member Find all posts View Profile Close mumstruk]

Re: A/C Outlet Temp ?

One of my subbies is a fridgie whiz. He put me onto the leaking heater valve many years ago. When he is not working for me he runs a little workshop fixing all things that make cold, building 12 volt fridges and repairing automotive ACs. Helped me expose a dodgy AC workshop that my wife went to for a repair to our old Fairlane. They pulled out the trusty old evaporator from under the front counter and showed her where the leak in the AC was, quoting a repair bill of some $1500, telling her that the dash has to come out, etc. Turns out, using the gas detector, that the 'o' rings on the compressor needed replacing, parts that cost only a few cents.

[Steve M Addicted PP Member Find all posts View Profile Close Steve M]

Re: A/C Outlet Temp ?

It should coming out the vents at roughly between 2 to 5 degrees. This is generally tested by running the motor up to 2 grand, recirculating control on recirc, fan speed on two. This will give you the best true reading. It would be best to test it when the vehicle has also been out of the sun as it can take a few minutes for the dash/vents etc to cool which also will give you a false reading coming out the vents. Also just for a rough temp, grab hold of the aircon pipe under the bonnet and it should be extremely cold in your hand. There is a huge difference between 2 and 12 degrees even holding the pipe. As mentioned above the first thing I would be getting checked is the heater tap, they only need to be just seeping through into the heatercore which is after the evaporator and this will increase the air outlet dramatically. Personally I think Toyota has one of the best aircon systems around and normally handle the extreme heat with no issues generally keeping you nice and cool in the vehicle. I have 95 series grande with dual air works fantastic even on extremely hot days, our friends have an 04 120 series and gets extremely cold in the cabin. Im not a lover of climate air as when some thing does go wrong its that bit harder to track down with dash sensors and external sensors. Fisrt check the heater core as mentioned then go from there. Could possibly be the control box under the dash which is non adjustable but doubt thats the issue. All the best with it.

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

Re: A/C Outlet Temp ?

Had a bit of trouble with my AC on a recent 4x4 trip over Boxing Day weekend (trip report still to be done). Got up to very high 30's temperature wise, with some tough conditions. The AC worked like a charm on the highway up there, but after a while started to really struggle in the heat once climbing the tracks. Ended up being cooler with the windows down and a bit of breeze in the shade.

MickL, I might get you to email me the PDF file you mentioned earlier and see if I can play with the thermo a bit. Let me know and I'll flick you my email address.

Cheers,
AJ

[MickL Addicted PP Member Find all posts View Profile Close MickL]

Re: A/C Outlet Temp ?

MickL, I might get you to email me the PDF file you mentioned earlier and see if I can play with the thermo a bit. Let me know and I'll flick you my email address.

Sure, PM me and I'll pass it on to you.

Mick

[IRON-PAWW Avid PP Poster! Find all posts View Profile Close IRON-PAWW]

Re: A/C Outlet Temp ?

Well I've got no trouble with my AC temps and have found Denso air cons to be extremely good in the past. Denso have have been making automotive air conditioning systems for that long that they surely must have the system down pat by now. The air temps I have coming out the vents even on extremely hot days are very nice and frigid. A Landcruiser Fj55 we had years ago also had a Denso air con unit in it and that used to freeze our pants off filled with dust and all. And that's 1970's we're talking here. It never missed a beat until we sold the Fj in the mid 80's, and it got punished I can tell you. True you need to give the system time cool the vents and push out all the hot air from the cab. Whack it on recirc for the first 10 minutes or so and you also notice a nice quick cooling down. Even at idle the denso's seem to do a good job but as said earlier the systems really start working well once you get some revs up and some airflow over the AC condenser unit.

If you can't fix the issue yourself from the info here then I'd just take it to an aircon specialist and get it looked at properly. Toyota seem to be the fob off masters when it comes to niggly issues like this. Maybe then present the specialists report to the Toyo Service Dept and ask what they think of their "nothings wrong" diagnosis then. Forget the pain of trying to deal with being fobbed in my opinion and just get it looked at if necessary.