I have a 2008 tC, the a/c never really seemed to blow cold. I bought the car back in May. When its 80ish outside the air inside still seems to be semi cool. My moms 2004 ford escape seem to blow colder air. I even tried recirculated and and fresh same result. I have roughly 37k-ish miles. I guess i just ran out of warranty for it?

 

Just buy one of the recharge kits at a car parts store. As long as you don't have a random leak in the system, that should cool it down for quite a while.

 

eh...i always felt my 08 tc had pretty weak a/c compared to any other car i've been in.

 

Its our cars, don't even waste your money on a recharge kit. If you are really worried about it and have time to waste do what i did, take it to the dealer so they can tell you "thats normal."

Only trick that helps with the air is to turn on JUST the upper vent (not both levels) and the air in cooler than normal. Give it a try.

 

A/C in the tC blows monkey nuts anyway.

Buy you a temperature gauge that can slide into one of the air vents, that'll let you know how cool the air is coming out. If it's too warm you know the system needs a refill, which I doubt it will need. In all likelihood the temperature outside is just negating the A/C inside.

 

Thanks.

 

yea when you first get in put it to all top vents with the A/C and refresh on and leave it that way for a bit, then switch it to both. I have found it gets much colder that way. Also if it is hot, hot outside it will always feel like it is not doing much unless you drive for an extended distance.

 

ive talked with toyota/scion techs and they've all agreed theyve seen toyotas need recharges of r-134 every couple years. That it's not air tight systems. So your car going on 2-3 years old (Depends on when you got it), right on time. I've had to recharge mine and they have done pressure tests, no leaks. Just the way r-134a is. The older freon was better.

but.. before someone who tells me that whatever brand doesn't do that. well the tC does. and recharging it to max levels is the way to fix the a/c not cold issue. Recharged mine and back to cold again.

some dealers are useless they think the r-134a never needs recharged and if it does there's a major leak. not the case.

 

Drive on the highway for like 10 mins, if your AC is not cold by then, you have a prob.
During a 10 Min drive home in the city my AC kicks out 50-60 degree air. (Cools off after 10 mins)
If I go on the highway for a few mins I get 42 degree air.

Last year I put a can of recharge in it, I think it made a difference in cooling off faster. I am thinking about going to a place that will offer a free AC inspection, and see what they say about my system pressure. Then i'll play dumb and go home and fill it up myself. Unless they say I have a leak.
TC = not the best AC ever. Alteast here in the Texas summer. Cool weather and at night its fine. 39-45 degree air is considered normal. Wont get much cooler than that.

2006 TC, 70,000 Miles.

 

Yea Amen, plus make sure your not blowing air from outside. And always use the upper air vents so most more air blows at you.
These are pretty new cars, I would not hope there is a need for a refill unless there are mechanical problems.

 

Make sure you don't overfill the freon. I bought my Scion knowing the A/C didn't work. Got it home...put the gauge on the low side and saw it was in the red(caution) zone. Purged some freon and the a/c began to blow cold. Houston weather.

 

How did you do that?

 

The recharge can is a good idea. Worked for me.

 

I also found my blend door wasn't going full cold. Looked like a previous owner messed with it.

 

Think of the lowside as a giant schrader valve. With the a/c running, purge a little out by depressing the seal with a screwdriver for a split second at a time, checking the pressure and whether the air is getting cooler between purges.

Not the green way...but its all i could think of on-the-spot and it worked. Make sure you only do this if yours was overfilled.

 

If it hot outside it will cool down 20-30mins of city driving..like comfortable cool.