today after getting annoyed of the fact that even after the car being on for 10 mins with recirculate on, the a/c was just starting to get cold. i read a few topics on a few sites about how the 05 tc's were known to have a low refrigerant levels, but a tsb was sent out for that problem to be solved at a dealership. i wanna know if that was only if the car was bought new or if it was under a certain mileage. i bought mine used from a used car dealership with about 38000 miles on it and now it had about 47000. and if it isn't covered i just wanna find out how much a dealership would charge to remove and refill the freon to the right level

 

also i checked the current temp of the air, its about 58. would adding freon myself solve the problem or do i need to take out the current freon as well

 

A TSB isn't the same as a recall. They won't notify you of it and it doesn't apply to just new or used vehicles. A TSB should have been corrected on the vehicle ONLY if the previous owner in this case took it to the dealer to have it fixed. Call your dealer and see what they will do for you.

Car's do not use "freon" they use R-134A. They sell recharge kits at any parts store for a simple DIY, no need to drain the system (would be nearly impossible to do without the special machine anyways)

I'm guessing the "current air temp" is a measurement of the air coming out of the vent? How was this verified?

 

i just stuck a thermometer in the middle vent for about 5 mins on recirculate, but ive also checked the r-134 levels with a gauge before. i had one left over from an a/c recharge i did on my old car but i really dont feel as though i was getting an accurate reading, it kind seemed as the gauge was moving up and down a bit. im about 90% sure that the problem that most 05 tc owners had is whats wrong with mine. about 15 mins for the car to even get a cool feel to it. should i just take it to a toyota dealership and pay for the service?

just a side not, my scions black, black interior, no shade whatsoever at school parking lot and its been mid-90's for the past 2 weeks

 

i would say you answered your own question there. black traps heat. so if your exterior and interior is black and you have no shade i would consider 15 mins to cool down pretty fast.

from the sound of it your a/c is working fine. as long as the vent temp is 30-35 degrees cooler (yours is 58 degrees) than the ambient temp (being 90+ degrees) in your case, it is normal.

oh and overcharging the a/c system has the same effect as undercharging. you will not get cool air. there are specs on the amount of refridgerant for a reason.

 

well my buddy has an 05 also, his is a dark blue and his interior gets just about as hot as mine, i have 30% tint on all windows and i keep the shades for the glass roof on at all times, he has no tint and doesn't use the roof shades. when we did all the tests for the vent its was a lot cooler out, id say low 70's. the main reason i started to look this stuff up today was when we left for lunch during work (cars had been sitting in direct sunlight for about 3 hours) we opened the door to his car and it was burning hot so he decided to turn the car on and let a/c run for a bit, had a cig and went back after id say a 2 or 3 mins and his car wasn't completely cold, but when i put my hand to his vent it was ice cold. we had taken my car a few days earlier and i used my autostart to turn the car on with a/c on max with recirculation and we got a bit sidetracked and got to my car 8 minutes after we clocked out. we got in and it still was just starting to get a cool feeling to it, nothing like his. i talked to him earlier about this whole issue and he says my a/c is definitely has an issue because even in this hot weather his car cools in about 4-5 to a decent temp while i wait about 15 mins then just give up and roll down the windows

sorry for being scattered with the info, just worked outside for 8 hours in hell

 

i have a 05 and my A/C works completely fine. takes about 2-4ish minutes to cool the car and it has been around the same temperatures here also.

 

best thing to do is get your refridgerant level checked and have a leak test done.

 

well just quickly back to my original question, can i take my car to a dealership and ask for a tsb check? and if they do find that my car does have around 6lbs of pressure instead of the 10 i believe is recommended will they do it for me for free or will i have to pay for a 150$ recharge

 

usually if there is a tsb and your car is within warranty range (either by date of first usage or by mileage, 3 years or 36000 miles) then the check and recharge will be covered free.

but if you are out of warranty then you will be charged full price for whatever the charge is.

i work for toyota and i can check to see if there are any tsb's for this when i get back to work on friday if you like. that way you will know if you have to pay a charge without having to go to the dealership.

 

wow $150 to charge up some refrigerant? ouch. dealers around here are like $90 with summer specials even less than that. I've found with the tC and other cars that have r-134a in them, about 2-3 years later, they're not as cold and need to be recharged (evacuate, run drier to make sure moisture is gone, then charge/fill up with refrigerant). The r-134a cars seem to need a recharge every couple years. The tC definitely falls into this category. Not all but a lot of tC's I've seen do this. and it's not a leak at all, the tC's i've seen have been pressure tested and all checks out fine.

When ya get it recharged you have to make sure you get the max amount of r-134a in there. Not above, and not less. That will ensure the coldest temps you can get. That's how you solve the a/c problem.

You're far out of the 3/36k warranty where tsb's apply, but you can use that to tell them what level of r-134a is supposed to go back in. They upped the amount for 05 under that tsb.