95 Ls400 A/c Questions

[chrisls400]

i have noticed two irregularities with the a/c in my 95 ls400, and after reading through the pages of a/c threads, i'm not sure if they are related or not. the car has 214,000 miles on it, and no a/c servicing had been done (that i'm aware of) until this year. i did have the a/c looked at by a local mechanic (not someone specializing in a/c) at the end of spring and he said the freon was full (i had never had a/c looked at in the 6 years i have owned the car), but he said he added oil to the compressor but that was all he could do.

first, anytime i put the temp on cold, with the auto button pushed or not, the speed of the air coming out seems to be less than it should be. i get in friend's lexus' and when you hit "COLD" on the thermostat, the air gives dry eye sockets. well, in mine, it blows somewhat harder than when on a temperature, say 66 or something but it's NOTHING like the others i have been in. the air is cold, but just doesn't blow at the speed that it should. is that a problem in itsself, or is it related to this problem:

when driving for any amount of time, say going on an hour or so trip, the cold air that was blowing at the start of the trip gradually becomes not so cold, and it seems that it blows out at even less force than before. so, ultimately to stay cool i have to run the thing on "cold" the entire trip to stay remotely cool. i can put my hand up to the side vent to the left of the steering wheel and you can barely feel anything. even when i close the rear A/C, it doesn't help that much with the front ones. i have read threads where people are staying cool at like 72 degrees in the summer and i'm like yea, something is wrong with my a/c.

i am unsure if these problems are related or not. i don't know if this is the beginning of my compressor going out, or if there is something else that can be done, or if some type of blower fan can be replaced? looking back, i begin noticing this several years ago, but i am relatively new to the club so i thought i would post it to see if anyone could help with this, or has experienced this in a 95?? any help is greatly appreciated. thank you

[wwest]

i have noticed two irregularities with the a/c in my 95 ls400, and after reading through the pages of a/c threads, i'm not sure if they are related or not. the car has 214,000 miles on it, and no a/c servicing had been done (that i'm aware of) until this year. i did have the a/c looked at by a local mechanic (not someone specializing in a/c) at the end of spring and he said the freon was full (i had never had a/c looked at in the 6 years i have owned the car), but he said he added oil to the compressor but that was all he could do.

first, anytime i put the temp on cold, with the auto button pushed or not, the speed of the air coming out seems to be less than it should be. i get in friend's lexus' and when you hit "COLD" on the thermostat, the air gives dry eye sockets. well, in mine, it blows somewhat harder than when on a temperature, say 66 or something but it's NOTHING like the others i have been in. the air is cold, but just doesn't blow at the speed that it should. is that a problem in itsself, or is it related to this problem:

when driving for any amount of time, say going on an hour or so trip, the cold air that was blowing at the start of the trip gradually becomes not so cold, and it seems that it blows out at even less force than before. so, ultimately to stay cool i have to run the thing on "cold" the entire trip to stay remotely cool. i can put my hand up to the side vent to the left of the steering wheel and you can barely feel anything. even when i close the rear A/C, it doesn't help that much with the front ones. i have read threads where people are staying cool at like 72 degrees in the summer and i'm like yea, something is wrong with my a/c.

i am unsure if these problems are related or not. i don't know if this is the beginning of my compressor going out, or if there is something else that can be done, or if some type of blower fan can be replaced? looking back, i begin noticing this several years ago, but i am relatively new to the club so i thought i would post it to see if anyone could help with this, or has experienced this in a 95?? any help is greatly appreciated. thank you

Install a new A/C air filter, its behind the glove box.

Memphis or....?

I'm in Olive Branch at the moment.

[chrisls400]

i have noticed two irregularities with the a/c in my 95 ls400, and after reading through the pages of a/c threads, i'm not sure if they are related or not. the car has 214,000 miles on it, and no a/c servicing had been done (that i'm aware of) until this year. i did have the a/c looked at by a local mechanic (not someone specializing in a/c) at the end of spring and he said the freon was full (i had never had a/c looked at in the 6 years i have owned the car), but he said he added oil to the compressor but that was all he could do.

first, anytime i put the temp on cold, with the auto button pushed or not, the speed of the air coming out seems to be less than it should be. i get in friend's lexus' and when you hit "COLD" on the thermostat, the air gives dry eye sockets. well, in mine, it blows somewhat harder than when on a temperature, say 66 or something but it's NOTHING like the others i have been in. the air is cold, but just doesn't blow at the speed that it should. is that a problem in itsself, or is it related to this problem:

when driving for any amount of time, say going on an hour or so trip, the cold air that was blowing at the start of the trip gradually becomes not so cold, and it seems that it blows out at even less force than before. so, ultimately to stay cool i have to run the thing on "cold" the entire trip to stay remotely cool. i can put my hand up to the side vent to the left of the steering wheel and you can barely feel anything. even when i close the rear A/C, it doesn't help that much with the front ones. i have read threads where people are staying cool at like 72 degrees in the summer and i'm like yea, something is wrong with my a/c.

i am unsure if these problems are related or not. i don't know if this is the beginning of my compressor going out, or if there is something else that can be done, or if some type of blower fan can be replaced? looking back, i begin noticing this several years ago, but i am relatively new to the club so i thought i would post it to see if anyone could help with this, or has experienced this in a 95?? any help is greatly appreciated. thank you

Install a new A/C air filter, its behind the glove box.

Memphis or....?

I'm in Olive Branch at the moment.

oh ok, will do. i didn't think of that, thank you. i'm totally across the state from Memphis...NE corner, small city called Elizabethton. Thanks so much for the help.

[David Culberson]

Hey, if the climate control display shows the fan speed at high, it should be moving a whole lot of air. My '95 will cool the cabin down right fast and keep it comfy even in 95-degree weather. Mine's only got 150k miles on it, but that shouldn't matter!

One thing to check: The cell phone circuit will make the fan drop to a near-imperceptible speed if it thinks the phone is in use. I was doing a stereo install, and since I wasn't using the phone, I removed the brain (in the trunk, right hand side, under the carpet and backer). The remaining connectors fit together, so I plugged them into each other. Well, here's the deal:

If you're using the factory amp, and you unplug the cell phone brain, your rear left speaker will cut out. If you plug the two connectors together, it will come back on. But then, your a/c fan will only turn on in low, low, low speed! Disconnect those two connectors, either from the phone or from each other, and see if your fan will go on high. If it will, and your left rear speaker doesn't work, then lemme know and I'll figure out which wires need connected.

I don't want to bother tracing out the wires if this doesn't turn out to be the problem! :-) Since I was putting in a new amp, and bypassing the factory speaker wiring, I didn't have to trace the crap down.

Good luck, and you're definitely right in thinking your climate control isn't up to snuff. These things will freeze you out if you put it all the way down to "Cold."

[LexChamp]

Hey, if the climate control display shows the fan speed at high, it should be moving a whole lot of air. My '95 will cool the cabin down right fast and keep it comfy even in 95-degree weather. Mine's only got 150k miles on it, but that shouldn't matter!

One thing to check: The cell phone circuit will make the fan drop to a near-imperceptible speed if it thinks the phone is in use. I was doing a stereo install, and since I wasn't using the phone, I removed the brain (in the trunk, right hand side, under the carpet and backer). The remaining connectors fit together, so I plugged them into each other. Well, here's the deal:

If you're using the factory amp, and you unplug the cell phone brain, your rear left speaker will cut out. If you plug the two connectors together, it will come back on. But then, your a/c fan will only turn on in low, low, low speed! Disconnect those two connectors, either from the phone or from each other, and see if your fan will go on high. If it will, and your left rear speaker doesn't work, then lemme know and I'll figure out which wires need connected.

I don't want to bother tracing out the wires if this doesn't turn out to be the problem! :-) Since I was putting in a new amp, and bypassing the factory speaker wiring, I didn't have to trace the crap down.

Good luck, and you're definitely right in thinking your climate control isn't up to snuff. These things will freeze you out if you put it all the way down to "Cold."

Wow, How in the hell did you figure that one out. Listen I have the same problem with the my AC. I'm sure you heard that one before. I have a 95 LS with 174,000. the AC was not pumping cold air. Steps taken in the past few weks. 1) vaccum freon, recharged it, still not cold. 2) Vaccum freon, changed the AC dryer, bought for $35.00 at Auto Zone, recharged it, was cold at first, however temperature outside was 75 degrees. the next day with the temperature at 90, I was burning witht he AC on high. But check this out, you talk about the phone thing in the trunk. my radio goes in and out all the time. one speaker, than the other. most of the time I only get sound from one. I notice the back, right hand side as you pointed out that there are 2 connectors that are disconected, I bought the car like that. In fact, they are all burned out. However, when I connect those connectors, the sound from the radio, speakers go out immediately. When I saw you post, I was like WOW, how does the AC, radio, phone have any connections with one another. I am hoping you knowledge in this matter can asssist me understand this issue a little better. My next step was to tackle the evaporator. Any assistance in this matter will be appreciated.

[chrisls400]

david-geez that seems to pinpoint my problem. i haven't tried it yet, as i just read your post, but get this: my rear left speaker hasn't been working and i'm not sure when it quit...like it was years ago. so i'm wondering if the air has always been like that or what. i'm going to get in my trunk this evening and check out that box. given the 1) low force of air and 2) no sound coming out of back left speaker, i'm thinking that something in that phone brain could be my problem. very helpful info..thanks so much.

[chrisls400]

Hey, if the climate control display shows the fan speed at high, it should be moving a whole lot of air. My '95 will cool the cabin down right fast and keep it comfy even in 95-degree weather. Mine's only got 150k miles on it, but that shouldn't matter!

One thing to check: The cell phone circuit will make the fan drop to a near-imperceptible speed if it thinks the phone is in use. I was doing a stereo install, and since I wasn't using the phone, I removed the brain (in the trunk, right hand side, under the carpet and backer). The remaining connectors fit together, so I plugged them into each other. Well, here's the deal:

If you're using the factory amp, and you unplug the cell phone brain, your rear left speaker will cut out. If you plug the two connectors together, it will come back on. But then, your a/c fan will only turn on in low, low, low speed! Disconnect those two connectors, either from the phone or from each other, and see if your fan will go on high. If it will, and your left rear speaker doesn't work, then lemme know and I'll figure out which wires need connected.

I don't want to bother tracing out the wires if this doesn't turn out to be the problem! :-) Since I was putting in a new amp, and bypassing the factory speaker wiring, I didn't have to trace the crap down.

Good luck, and you're definitely right in thinking your climate control isn't up to snuff. These things will freeze you out if you put it all the way down to "Cold."

david, i accessed the telepohone brain last night in the trunk. i unplugged the brownish plug going into the black brick-looking thing and tried the air, speaker. there was no change from what i have now. i then unplugged the two white plugs and tried again but still nothing. i did learn this: when i turn on the phone, and leave it in the cradle, my back left speaker will not play any sound. i think i may have a speaker problem back there as well. thanks for the help though.

[David Culberson]

Wow, How in the hell did you figure that one out.

One slightly messed up stereo install and a brain-wracking half-hour going over what I changed from before versus after the fan quit working. :)

Listen I have the same problem with the my AC. I'm sure you heard that one before. I have a 95 LS with 174,000. the AC was not pumping cold air. Steps taken in the past few weks. 1) vaccum freon, recharged it, still not cold. 2) Vaccum freon, changed the AC dryer, bought for $35.00 at Auto Zone, recharged it, was cold at first, however temperature outside was 75 degrees. the next day with the temperature at 90, I was burning witht he AC on high. But check this out, you talk about the phone thing in the trunk. my radio goes in and out all the time. one speaker, than the other. most of the time I only get sound from one. I notice the back, right hand side as you pointed out that there are 2 connectors that are disconected, I bought the car like that. In fact, they are all burned out. However, when I connect those connectors, the sound from the radio, speakers go out immediately. When I saw you post, I was like WOW, how does the AC, radio, phone have any connections with one another. I am hoping you knowledge in this matter can asssist me understand this issue a little better. My next step was to tackle the evaporator. Any assistance in this matter will be appreciated.

So is your fan running at low speeds (while the display says it should be high) or is the air blowing out fine but warm instead of cold? If it's the latter, then I'm not sure if it's related. But the former and it probably is.

I have (well, had) the Nakamichi audio - do you? Unfortunately my stereo wiring harness was all hacked up by an unprofessional installer before I bought the car. I haven't had any problems with the audio cutting in and out other than the back left speaker - it was out as long as those two white connectors were just hanging there unconnected to anything. If I connect them together (they do plug into each other, at least in my car) then the speaker come back on but my fan is stuck on super-low speed. So what I did was leave them unplugged (which made the fan work) but then cut the yellow and black wires (they are thicker than the rest) off the harness and connect them together. That made the back left speaker work.

Since you've got more than your back left speaker messing up, it might be related to your amplifier, which (again, in the Nakamichi setup) is under your passenger seat behind an a/c vent cover.

The phone is tied into the a/c control so that when you're using it, the fan drops to low to keep from disturbing your conversation. I *think* the a/c compressor keeps running, so the air should still be cold, just moving really slowly. The handsfree audio comes out of the left rear speaker, and the stereo mutes the rest of the speakers. So you've got a lot of interaction between the stereo, a/c and the phone. It makes troubleshooting rather .. interesting. A service manual with wiring diagrams would probably help; I don't have one of those yet.

I'll come back to this - I'm going to try to think of some more stuff to check, for both of you. I'm going to be out all weekend, though, and away from the internet (there are such places? ;-) so it'll be Monday before I can reply.

-David

[chrisls400]

Wow, How in the hell did you figure that one out.

One slightly messed up stereo install and a brain-wracking half-hour going over what I changed from before versus after the fan quit working. :)

Listen I have the same problem with the my AC. I'm sure you heard that one before. I have a 95 LS with 174,000. the AC was not pumping cold air. Steps taken in the past few weks. 1) vaccum freon, recharged it, still not cold. 2) Vaccum freon, changed the AC dryer, bought for $35.00 at Auto Zone, recharged it, was cold at first, however temperature outside was 75 degrees. the next day with the temperature at 90, I was burning witht he AC on high. But check this out, you talk about the phone thing in the trunk. my radio goes in and out all the time. one speaker, than the other. most of the time I only get sound from one. I notice the back, right hand side as you pointed out that there are 2 connectors that are disconected, I bought the car like that. In fact, they are all burned out. However, when I connect those connectors, the sound from the radio, speakers go out immediately. When I saw you post, I was like WOW, how does the AC, radio, phone have any connections with one another. I am hoping you knowledge in this matter can asssist me understand this issue a little better. My next step was to tackle the evaporator. Any assistance in this matter will be appreciated.

So is your fan running at low speeds (while the display says it should be high) or is the air blowing out fine but warm instead of cold? If it's the latter, then I'm not sure if it's related. But the former and it probably is.

I have (well, had) the Nakamichi audio - do you? Unfortunately my stereo wiring harness was all hacked up by an unprofessional installer before I bought the car. I haven't had any problems with the audio cutting in and out other than the back left speaker - it was out as long as those two white connectors were just hanging there unconnected to anything. If I connect them together (they do plug into each other, at least in my car) then the speaker come back on but my fan is stuck on super-low speed. So what I did was leave them unplugged (which made the fan work) but then cut the yellow and black wires (they are thicker than the rest) off the harness and connect them together. That made the back left speaker work.

Since you've got more than your back left speaker messing up, it might be related to your amplifier, which (again, in the Nakamichi setup) is under your passenger seat behind an a/c vent cover.

The phone is tied into the a/c control so that when you're using it, the fan drops to low to keep from disturbing your conversation. I *think* the a/c compressor keeps running, so the air should still be cold, just moving really slowly. The handsfree audio comes out of the left rear speaker, and the stereo mutes the rest of the speakers. So you've got a lot of interaction between the stereo, a/c and the phone. It makes troubleshooting rather .. interesting. A service manual with wiring diagrams would probably help; I don't have one of those yet.

I'll come back to this - I'm going to try to think of some more stuff to check, for both of you. I'm going to be out all weekend, though, and away from the internet (there are such places? ;-) so it'll be Monday before I can reply.

-David

hey, thanks so much for your patience and help. i'm going to get in there this weekend and see if i can figure it out based on what you told me. i don't have the Nakamichi stereo, but i'm pretty sure my amp is in the same place. thanks again and have a good weekend.

[Tron]

Hey, if the climate control display shows the fan speed at high, it should be moving a whole lot of air. My '95 will cool the cabin down right fast and keep it comfy even in 95-degree weather. Mine's only got 150k miles on it, but that shouldn't matter!

One thing to check: The cell phone circuit will make the fan drop to a near-imperceptible speed if it thinks the phone is in use. I was doing a stereo install, and since I wasn't using the phone, I removed the brain (in the trunk, right hand side, under the carpet and backer). The remaining connectors fit together, so I plugged them into each other. Well, here's the deal:

If you're using the factory amp, and you unplug the cell phone brain, your rear left speaker will cut out. If you plug the two connectors together, it will come back on. But then, your a/c fan will only turn on in low, low, low speed! Disconnect those two connectors, either from the phone or from each other, and see if your fan will go on high. If it will, and your left rear speaker doesn't work, then lemme know and I'll figure out which wires need connected.

I don't want to bother tracing out the wires if this doesn't turn out to be the problem! :-) Since I was putting in a new amp, and bypassing the factory speaker wiring, I didn't have to trace the crap down.

Good luck, and you're definitely right in thinking your climate control isn't up to snuff. These things will freeze you out if you put it all the way down to "Cold."

Hi, I am new here but I have a 1996 LS and had the same problem. Blower speed only works on low speed. I called the dealer to see if they hered of this before and they were no help. Instead they wanted me to bring it in for them to look at $$$. I started checking some of the componets out since I know a little about cars but go no where. I was thinking of shot gunning it and almost started to replace every component one at a time (Buying the parts from ebay). Well Thanks to your find I quickly tried it today after dealing with it for a few months and WOW!!!!!!!!!! :D it worked for me. My Blower speed finally comes on normal after I disconnected the cell phone brain. My rear left speaker did go out but I traced it and it was the yellow and black wire off the connector going from the car to the cell phone brain. I spliced them together and problem resolved. Hey thanks a million I don't think Lexus is a where of this problem but one could spend allot of money if they have a similar problem. Again Thank you!!!!