so I’m trying to service the AC in my 2002 Lexus IS 300. Almost 300K miles and the AC has been working like a champ until this summer. Car has been superbly maintained, but AC is probably my weak area as it jsut never needs work.
This summer, car stopped blowing cold air. Compressor is engaging and turning on. Went and got a can of 134 with a gauge on it. Hooked the gauge up and the gauge is in the red reading 100psi. WTF? So I didn’t try to push any 134 into the system because of this.
What’s wrong? Any tips or ideas what to check? What should I do next?
System seems to be in tact cause with the car turned off, it’s holing that pressure.
Try to get the compressor to cut on. Let some a 134 out. If it cut on and is at the right pressure. But does not cool. It may be a bad compressor. I will also ask. When you hooked the gauge up the first time. Did it have pressure? If so how much?
Ooops, thought I put that in there. Pressure was up around 100psi on the low side. This is with the car running, compressor running, AC on high. Pressure is steady at that pressure all the time. Even after sitting over night, pressure does not bleed off and still holding at 100 (in the red).
I don’t have a gauge to check the high side, so I may have to take it somewhere for at least the troubleshooting.
I think the same thing was happening with mine, the shop said my compressor was bad and had to be replaced. They were right. It seemed like everything should be working. Compresser kicked on. Pressure was good, wouldn't take any more gas. Just wouldn't be cold.
I just had same prob here bad compressor mine also read 100psi my well known mechanic said it’s def compressor . Good luck , I happened to have a spare but don’t want to deal with the swap until my other motor is built maybe 6mo out ? dang it’s hot in FLA already
Yea, I’ll swap it out. Here’s a question though...I wanted to let that high pressure off, so I bled the low side down into the green; about 15 psi or so. But now with the car running, the compressor will not turn on and off with the switch. It doesn’t run at all; will not turn on. Is that normal cause I bled that pressure off?
As you have already mentioned you have no way to see the pressure on the high side. You can buy a guage set at harbor freight or parts store for not alot of coin. You will not be able to correctly troubleshoot until you see the entire picture. If you want to learn more about AC sytems i would watch a few videos and get a good grasp on it. Its honestly not hard to diagnose when you have the full guage set and a little youtube knowledge. Save you some money in the end! Good luck
Just wanted to add another data point that I too had my compressor let go last year. Exact symptoms of yours: zero cold air, compressor was still engaging, normal pressure on the low side but high side was equal and would never increase.
Put in a new compressor and condenser. Might be a weak point of these cars. Either way mine now blows ice cold. Best of luck!
What do you do about the oil? I got a Denso compressor from RockAuto, but it didn’t come with any oil to add. Is the right amount in there ready to go?
I don’t have a (service) manual and this topic is sooo scattered, it’s ridiculous. I cannot decipher a straight answer from what I’ve found thus far. The sticker under the hood does not give a quantity. I know oil was lost evacuating the system and I couldn’t see a single drop of oil in the old compressor.
The new compressor has some oil in it, but doesn’t look like enough that you could pour out and measure.
I assume a dryer comes as part of the new condenser on these?
And yea, the more I read, the more I think I’m over stressing the oil.
Uugggg...last stupid question guys...
My condenser didn’t get here. Compressor is on and car is otherwise back together. Is the car OK to drive, obviously, as long as you don’t turn on the AC or defrost? I may even leave the connector unplugged at the compressor.
My condenser didn’t get here. Compressor is on and car is otherwise back together. Is the car OK to drive, obviously, as long as you don’t turn on the AC or defrost? I may even leave the connector unplugged at the compressor.
Perfectly fine to drive, and you can even use the A/C. It won't kick on or try to engage unless there's enough pressure, so it's safe. I'd just cap/cover/tape/bag any open connections. No need to unplug any wires.
So my Condensor got here and there seems to be no sign of oil in it at all (like the compressor). Guess I’ll pick up some oil and put a bit in there, yea??
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