Air Conditioning Blows Warm Air

[dougeefresh]

I turned the air on yesterday in about a month and it's blowing warm air.

It wasn't very cold before either but I was able to tell that it was working. Now it's just warm air coming out.

There's no light on the dash to indicate anything's wrong.

What can I diagnose what's causing the problem?

Thanks!

PS. It's 92 ES300.

[dcfish]

I turned the air on yesterday in about a month and it's blowing warm air.

It wasn't very cold before either but I was able to tell that it was working. Now it's just warm air coming out.

There's no light on the dash to indicate anything's wrong.

What can I diagnose what's causing the problem?

Thanks!

PS. It's 92 ES300.

Get the system recharged, They will do a full diagnosis on the system and tell you if anything else is wrong. Good Luck

[mrbutz1]

I turned the air on yesterday in about a month and it's blowing warm air.

It wasn't very cold before either but I was able to tell that it was working. Now it's just warm air coming out.

There's no light on the dash to indicate anything's wrong.

What can I diagnose what's causing the problem?

Thanks!

PS. It's 92 ES300.

My '94 had the same issue first time I turned on the air last week...two days before a long trip South.

Had it recharged for $90 at a local Midas-type place. Frosty cold air in 90 minutes. Try that first before you do anything more drastic!

[dougeefresh]

Thanks, guys.

[steviej]

if a recharge doens't work, have the expansion valve investigated. It is a common AC problem with early model ES300s.

steviej

[kmb4701]

I had the same problem about 2 weeks ago. My a/c button began to flash and the air turned warm. Eventually it stopped. I had been hearing the belts when ever i turned the car on for the past 6 months until the car warmed up. My mechanic told me that my compressor went bad. it took $900 to fix. I hope this isn't your situation.

96 es300

[dougeefresh]

Nothing's flashing so I hope it's not serious.

Is there a way to check the expansion valve without having to take it to a mechanic (or before have it recharged)?

[mrbutz1]

Nothing's flashing so I hope it's not serious.

Is there a way to check the expansion valve without having to take it to a mechanic (or before have it recharged)?

I think that part of the process of checking the system is to check the expansion valve (correct me if I am wrong!)...they inject some sort of dye and make sure that it isn't escaping anywhere in the system (at least that is what I was told). However, I suspect you would have to pay up front for the recharge in order for them to take a look at it.

I would recommend a Midas-type place before you go to a dealership or any more complex mechanic shop...no reason to pay more for what is probably a simple fix.

[voteforflea]

I had the same problem with my '92 and it turned out that my compressor had gone bad so I had to order a new one which took a while. It was also very expensive.

[mikemillionz]

Bottom line you have a refrigerant leak

[dougeefresh]

So I finally took the car in to a local Firestone.

They called me and said it needs a new dryer & receiver, a line to accumulator, and recharging with R12.

They quoted $849.73 :(

So my question is, what are my options?

How difficult is this as a DIY job?

Will I save money by buying parts online (assuming it's possible, where?) and bring them to a mechanic to get them done?

Or, would it be better off to bite the bullet and have Firestone fix it?

Thanks

Doug

[Shayan]

no,

THats a rip off, the drier is very easy t odo and it costs 33.00 at autozone.

Other parts arent much either

doshop around, firestone is a ripp off, almost as bad as lexus them selves.

[dougeefresh]

Thanks, at least that gives me some hope!

no,

THats a rip off, the drier is very easy t odo and it costs 33.00 at autozone.

Other parts arent much either

doshop around, firestone is a ripp off, almost as bad as lexus them selves.

[Shayan]

i bought a used compressor, and a new drier for mine ,and its easy labor, and im a 17 year old who doesnt know too much.

take ur alternator off and there it is. and ur drier has couple of screws and its next to your drivers headlight.

now mine was good for a week,and then it went back to warm , coem to find out i have a leak, and does anyone have a pic of that solenoid?

or know where its located?

[dougeefresh]

I am more than willing (and somewhat capable) to do this myself! Is there an instruction on how to do this and where I can get parts? After getting screwed by the online used parts stores (and their incompetency to get the right parts), I am reluctant to go back there.

[porkchop520]

I had this problem in my old dode (2002 Dodge Intrepid SE) and they said it wasn't the compressor, in fact they said there was nothing wrong with it, stupid people musta been on something :snoooorrrtttt: . Luckly I just ended up getting a new car!

[leert12]

This might be a simple Refrigerant issue... go to AutoZone like he suggested and you'll be able to do it yourself. AutoZone has a diagram they'll show you where to fill what. Or you can go to AllData site and get the printout of the refrigerant system and do it yoursef.

[tckcumming]

This might be a simple Refrigerant issue... go to AutoZone like he suggested and you'll be able to do it yourself. AutoZone has a diagram they'll show you where to fill what. Or you can go to AllData site and get the printout of the refrigerant system and do it yoursef.

'92 ES300 is filled with R-12 - hard to find and pricey when you do find some. My '93 had the same problem a couple of years ago (no/little cold air), no A/C repair places would recharge with R-12 because it's illegal now (here in Canada, anyway). I didn't want to buy one of those R-12 recharge kits on ebay, so my only option was to convert from R-12 to R-134a refrigerant. I wasn't sure how well this would work, had heard (and read) some stories about this conversion, opinions were both good and bad. I just went ahead and had my ES converted - new refrigerant, receiver-drier, some new o-rings, and that was it. Not expensive (can't remember how much, but I was surprised it wasn't more $$), the shop gave me a warranty and 2 or 3 free visits to check that there were no leaks or problems. AC worked fine after conversion, back to normal. AC still works great, no problems at all.

If I had it to do over, I wouldn't mess with trying to find R-12 and recharge it. Just go to a good shop and convert it to R-134a.

tck...

[dougeefresh]

I read somewhere that to do it correctly, you have to take the compressor out, disassemble it and clean it thoroughly because the oil in there is not compatble with the R-134 system. This makes the price much higher than just simply replacing nozzles and such. How much did you conversion cost and do you know if they took the compressor and cleaned it?

This might be a simple Refrigerant issue... go to AutoZone like he suggested and you'll be able to do it yourself. AutoZone has a diagram they'll show you where to fill what. Or you can go to AllData site and get the printout of the refrigerant system and do it yoursef.

'92 ES300 is filled with R-12 - hard to find and pricey when you do find some. My '93 had the same problem a couple of years ago (no/little cold air), no A/C repair places would recharge with R-12 because it's illegal now (here in Canada, anyway). I didn't want to buy one of those R-12 recharge kits on ebay, so my only option was to convert from R-12 to R-134a refrigerant. I wasn't sure how well this would work, had heard (and read) some stories about this conversion, opinions were both good and bad. I just went ahead and had my ES converted - new refrigerant, receiver-drier, some new o-rings, and that was it. Not expensive (can't remember how much, but I was surprised it wasn't more $$), the shop gave me a warranty and 2 or 3 free visits to check that there were no leaks or problems. AC worked fine after conversion, back to normal. AC still works great, no problems at all.

If I had it to do over, I wouldn't mess with trying to find R-12 and recharge it. Just go to a good shop and convert it to R-134a.

tck...