Well I was driving home from work today, and all of a sudden the air from my A/C went from cold to just warm air, it's about 94 degree's outside. I tried messing around with the settings, and it looks like pressing the "AC" button has no affect on the temperature of the air. I doubt it's the freon, because it just went warm. Should i change the ac compressor? Is there a Fuse that might have blown? any suggestions would be much appreciated. By the way, this is a 2005 model that I had since 2004. So may problems, I wish I didn't buy one of the 1st tC's.

 

the only way its a fuse is b/c something caused the fuse to blow (might not be A/C related). when you click the A/C button do you hear the compressor turning on? there might of been a leak somewhere in the system so vacuum leak test the high and low side

 

i've had my tc since 11/04, put on 70k miles on it, hasn't been 100% problem free, but i never even think about wishing i didn't buy one. you don't even know what the problem with your a/c is yet and you're acting like the car is garbage.

 

A rock probably hit the condenser which formed a small leak. Have the ac system checked out. It could be a number of things that could cause it from blowing cold to hot. Frozen expansion valve, leaks......

 

Honestly I was a tC junkie when I was in college. But after a few years, the Visor broke, come on, the sun visor, it was apparently held by plastic tabs, and I am not willing to pay $60 per visor to fix. The AC was slow to cool down to begin with, but that seems to be a tC issue. Then of course the famous rattle, i got that fixed, but its coming back. I have 86K on it, so the tC might have run its course already. But now the AC is not working at all, that is a big problem, my in laws old 80's buick has good AC. Anyways, I will bring it to the shop tomorrow to see what it is. But I am thinking the compressor, because the Cool air just went away and turned to just air.
But yah, I really think the 1st Gen tC's are garbage, because I have one. Next time, I will wait at least til the 3rd Gen when all the bug have been fixed.
Anyways, back to the AC, any other feedback on the AC. Has this happen to anyone where the air just becomes "normal" air.

 

any pre 96's models will have better ac. It's because R12 is a better "heat exchanger" than r134. As far as the tc having a crappy ac system is not true. There are plenty of post 96's vehicle with crappy ac. Even the IS300 had a crappy ac system.

You really think bugs will be fixed by 3rd gen. Every Gen will have it's problems in 1-2 years after introduction of a new gen.

 

um dude........the visor clips are $7.45 each,not $60.Using AC in Texas regularly you are gonna experiance breakdowns of the system,have you ever maintained it at all each spring and fall,ever claened the condensor,ever checked the coolant,ever changed the filter.

Every car I have ever owned has had rattles.......every car I ever will own will have rattles,that is what happens to cars.......I am always amazed at people who do nothing and when it breaks and they do not know how to fix the put it down........go fix your car and maintain it,AC is one of the easiest things to work on on the car.

 

Sound like you had the same issue as I did about 2 months ago. I also have an early model Scion Tc bought in August 04. I have no problems except the A/C. To make a long story short AC was always weak one day it stopped blowing cold. I noticed when my AC was on my car ran like garbage when stopped at a light. After the AC stopped blowing cold this did not happen anymore which lead me to believe the AC was no longer turning on. I took it to the dealership they basically said i needed a new clutch all said an done they wanted 1150 bucks and they werent sure if it was even gonna fix it. I said F you guys Im out. I brought it to a local AC stop that builds their own compressors and machines their own parts. They remanufacturered my system better than OEM for about 5 hundred. Basically they told me toyota uses a flawed design ac compressor that is to close to the engine that gives off to much heat. If you are in states like Florida (me) where you are always running the AC this problem is inevitable. So intense heat causes the seals to break which causes dirt to get into the magnetic clutch and stop working. You want to get this taken care of ASAP before your compressor gets fully damaged. Search around your area for a company the strictly deals with AC systems you will get the best price.

 

Well I took it to the shop, they can't do anything until Monday! I also went to an AC auto specialists place (polar bear) and they will take me in on Tuesday. So I will see what my Mechanic says, then see what the AC specialists say. I will give you an update. Oh, I talked to my friend, and he is saying it might be the relay? Does that sound right?

Oh, and I do take great care of my car (transmission flush, oil changes, trd filter cleaned after oil change, new tires, fluids always good, etc). and the plastic piece for the Visor, I'm not talking about the thing where it clips to, I'm talking about the hinge that keeps the visor in its position. I cut that open and saw that's it's just a plastic piece, hence the price of the WHOLE sun visor. I will create another thread for that actually when I get home.

Again, thanks for all your help scion life through the years. If there are any other situations regarding the A/C just blowing air, I would like to hear about it.

 

yes the relay makes a lot of sense. When you push the a/c button and listen outside, do you hear the a/c compressor click? Sounds like if you're getting nothing from the a/c it is probably the relay that died, constant high temps I bet overloaded the relay over time and poof, stopped working. It kind of does sound like what happened electrically.

If it were something like a leak in the system, you would've noticed the system getting gradually warmer and warmer. Until at a point you've lost too much refridgerant and then the system shuts the compressor down for safety. Yeah our system monitors the pressure and if it drops too much it knows to not allow the compressor to turn on.

hope that helps.

 

Yah, that is the same thing my friend said, if it was the compressor or a possible leak, the temperature of the air would be gradual. This was just all of a sudden while on the freeway. I guess the triple digit weather that hit this month was a hassle for my A/C.

When I press the A/C button, it doesn't sound like there is any difference at all. Any idea where the relay is located, and an estimate about how much it would cost? I don't want to be paying too much you know.

Also the part number so I can start shopping around, because I'm sure my mechanic will tell me to go buy it, if there is no leak or anything else wrong.

Again, it could be something else, but I am hoping just the relay because a new compressor would kill my wallet!

 

the low pressure cut off switch could be bad as well.

 

The relay is inside the relay box, driver's side front of the engine bay. Check your owners manual for something called the magnetic clutch relay, it should be in the upper left of the box. I think that's the relay for the a/c magnetic clutch. I looked it up. Part no same for manual or auto trans.

Magnetic clutch relay, Part no 90987-02028 price $79.71 but the dealer in your area or Ken at trdsparks could be cheaper!

The low pressure switch I can't seem to find, someone can correct me but the diagrams I'm looking at almost looks like it's integrated into the cooling piping. And that part is 88710-21180, cooler refridgerant piping, A, which is the lower side cooling.
price $402 (dealer or trdsparks might be lower)

oh and you can't hear a click at all? Makes me think it's the relay. Check your owners manual for the exact location, this should be the same but ya never know.

 

new compressor is a killer, i had to do it last year, no rebuild kit avail. for the clutch, junk yard used for $300

 

Same thing happen to my friends 05 tc. Relay went bad and blew the fuse.

Relay and fuse are a must check.

If the light is coming on, then i imagine no fuse is blown as if the fuse blew, more than one system would be off.

Hope for a bad relay!

If it's the A/C clutch, or that whole compressor together, that sucks lol $$$$$$$$$$$ money wise

A/C clutch went out on my mothers 07 ford expedition. All of sudden air went from somewhat slowly cold to warm. That was a 400$ repair but luckily under warranty still.

Relay should be in the engine bay fuse box. There should be a diagram on the inside cover.

If the A/C relay is not there, it's gonna be under your gauge cluster which is a bit of a pain to access.


Good luck, let us know what it ends of being

 

ok, well I found the relay and pulled it out. Is there a way to test or to see if it's burned out. I checked the fuses, and I don't see any blown fuse. Any idea's how to check it out before i bring it to the Mech tomorrow. $60 just to see what's wrong.

 

Replace it with another relay in the car. The horn relay should also work for the A/C.

 

well i tried the horn relay in the Magnetic clutch place, the AC still blows normal air, not cold. Ummm, can I put the M/C relay into the Horn relay to see if the horn works so I can determine if the AC relay works? haha

Oh, I did notice that on the upper left top of the AC relay, there is a Black Square, does that mean its blown? or it's just made that way.

Thanks again for the responses!

 

who needs the ac..do what i do..open up your windows and play some good music

 

That would work if it wasn't 90-105 degree's. And stuck in Rush Hour Traffic!