1994 Toyota 4Runner AC stops after 5 minutes

CAVEMON

MEMBER
1994 TOYOTA 4RUNNER
4 CYL
4WD
MANUAL
230,000 MILES

My air conditioning works fine when you start the truck and works for about 5 minutes. Then the AC quites working and does not work for the rest of the day although the compressor still cuts on. This is always the case when it is over 80 degrees outside. When it is below 70 degrees, AC will work all day. I checked the freon level and it is fine. Could not find any expansion valve. Got no leaks. Could it be evaporator. I'm stumped.

Wednesday, August 5th, 2009 AT 9:20 AM

1 Reply

PHILIP_LAO

MEMBER
6 POSTS

It happened to me twice with 2 different vehicles. Most likely cause of this is the moisture in the line which got freeze right at the expansion valve after a few minutes and clog the A/C circuit. How does moisture get into the system is something I have no explanation.

If you hook up a meter to both high and low pressure lines you would see the low pressure side slowly goes down to zero or near zero after some times.

Standard procedure to fix this is to evacuate the refrigerant, replace the dryer and recharge the system, provided your compressor is in good condition and the system does not leak.

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Sunday, August 23rd, 2009 AT 9:11 PM