A/c And Clacking Noise

[bostonk]

Hi all-

Thanks so much for being such a great resource! I have a 2002 RX300, 64000 miles, bought last year used. When I brought it to the dealer for the 60,000 mile service (and complete transmission fluid flush based on your advice) in March, they recommended the following:

-PCV valve replacement

-Alternator belt replacement

-Power steering belt replacement

- A/C filter change

BTW, This dealer (in MA) makes me a little suspicious since they tried to bill me more for the 60K service than they had quoted upfront. Kinda makes the rest of what they're doing come under question.

So, I brought the car to my local Toyota dealer (Woburn Toyota, they're awesome) for just the A/C filter change... and they brought it out to me, pretty much clean as a whistle and DIDN'T CHARGE for the service time in pulling it out to show me I didn't need A/C filter service.

Here's my question- I saw the post about cleaning out the servo motor. Does it require a part or just labor? Is it the cabin filter I need to be worried about or some other reason we'd hear clacking? I hate to trust the Lexus dealer's opinion but I need to bring my car in for an oil change and wanted to control what they're charging me for.

Also, at that Woburn Toyota place they gave me a brochure that said:

- Ventilation and Compressor A/C service: Condensation in your vehicle's AC system promotes mold and bacterial growth that accumulates in the evaporator and is blown into the passenger compartment. Add to this smell the sound of an A/C compressor making a clacking noise due to a depletion of oil. Solution: Clean out the AC lines, evaporator and ventilator and then kill any mold or bacteria. Then deodorize the entire AC system. Finally, our technicians will measure and replenish the oil in the compressor, and your AC will be cleaner and operate 4 to 5 degrees cooler due to increased efficiency. ($69)

Could this be what's going on?

[wwest]

Hi all-

Thanks so much for being such a great resource! I have a 2002 RX300, 64000 miles, bought last year used. When I brought it to the dealer for the 60,000 mile service (and complete transmission fluid flush based on your advice) in March, they recommended the following:

-PCV valve replacement

-Alternator belt replacement

-Power steering belt replacement

- A/C filter change

BTW, This dealer (in MA) makes me a little suspicious since they tried to bill me more for the 60K service than they had quoted upfront. Kinda makes the rest of what they're doing come under question.

So, I brought the car to my local Toyota dealer (Woburn Toyota, they're awesome) for just the A/C filter change... and they brought it out to me, pretty much clean as a whistle and DIDN'T CHARGE for the service time in pulling it out to show me I didn't need A/C filter service.

Here's my question- I saw the post about cleaning out the servo motor. Does it require a part or just labor? Is it the cabin filter I need to be worried about or some other reason we'd hear clacking? I hate to trust the Lexus dealer's opinion but I need to bring my car in for an oil change and wanted to control what they're charging me for.

Also, at that Woburn Toyota place they gave me a brochure that said:

- Ventilation and Compressor A/C service: Condensation in your vehicle's AC system promotes mold and bacterial growth that accumulates in the evaporator and is blown into the passenger compartment. Add to this smell the sound of an A/C compressor making a clacking noise due to a depletion of oil. Solution: Clean out the AC lines, evaporator and ventilator and then kill any mold or bacteria. Then deodorize the entire AC system. Finally, our technicians will measure and replenish the oil in the compressor, and your AC will be cleaner and operate 4 to 5 degrees cooler due to increased efficiency. ($69)

Could this be what's going on?

Woburn Toyota is feeding you a bunch of BS and you're very welcome to confront them with this missive.

"..noise due to depletion of oil..."

And just where, may I ask, did the oil go...?

Your A/C system is under a significant level of pressure, therefore is completely and totally SEALED, otherwise the refrigerant itself would have "depleted" long ago.

The only, ONLY way to determine if the A/C has sufficient oil mixed in with the refrigerant is to drain, completely pump down, the A/C system and then refill it with a carefully measured amount of refrigerant and refrigerant compatible oil.

You can't do that for a mere $69 and include a can of spray lysol too.

If you ARE experiencing a mould and mildew odor when the A/C first, initially, begins operating then there are only two solutions that I am aware of, three actually, now that I think it through.

Shortly after purchasing my new '92 LS in late '91 I learned that parking it in the garage at night, EVERY NIGHT, with all the windows lowered slightly allowed the cabin and A/C plenum to dry out enough that both problems, early morning instances of sudden windshield fogging and mildew odor, soon abated. For educational purposes primarily, more than any other, read the EED information at airsept.com. Late LS models have a UV light inside the A/C plenum near the evaporator core to kill the microbes that generate the odors.

"the clacking noise"

The most common noise for A/C operation that fits this "clacking" description is the on and off, ~ maybe 15 second period, operation of the A/C compressor's electro-magnetic clutch. If it truly is bothersome a new clutch would help some but I'm not sure that alone would be enough to quiet the clutch noise.