2005 Ls430 Air Conditioning Question

[restor]

Hi. My air conditoning on my 2005 LS430 is warm at startup for about 10 minutes, and then gets colder. Vehicle has 33k miles on it, just out of warranty.

My Honda Ridgeline is cold at startup, that's the basis for comparison, so it's not my imagination or anything.

Can anyone suggest what the problem might be, and what I should tell the Lexus dealer when I bring it in for service?

Thanks in advance.

[SeaRation]

Hi. My air conditoning on my 2005 LS430 is warm at startup for about 10 minutes, and then gets colder. Vehicle has 33k miles on it, just out of warranty.

My Honda Ridgeline is cold at startup, that's the basis for comparison, so it's not my imagination or anything.

Can anyone suggest what the problem might be, and what I should tell the Lexus dealer when I bring it in for service?

Thanks in advance.

I'm curious as to why you are out of warranty under 5 years and less than 60K miles?

[1990LS400]

I'm curious as to why you are out of warranty under 5 years and less than 60K miles?

SeaRation,

I can sure answer that question having owned two Lexus LS cars at the time the basic new-car warranty expired.

The basic warranty is four years or 50,000 miles from the "in-service date" -- the date the car was originally sold when new.

The basic warranty on a 2005 LS430 sold new in fall 2004 would have expired last year in the fall of 2008. Even the very last of the 2005 LS430's manufacturered would likely been sold by the end of August 2005. In a few days, it will be August of 2009. Do the math.

[05silverls430]

That doesn't sound right. I've never had that problem with my 05, nor did I have it with my 03. I'd get it checked out...

[curiousB]

Hi. My air conditoning on my 2005 LS430 is warm at startup for about 10 minutes, and then gets colder. Vehicle has 33k miles on it, just out of warranty.

My Honda Ridgeline is cold at startup, that's the basis for comparison, so it's not my imagination or anything.

Can anyone suggest what the problem might be, and what I should tell the Lexus dealer when I bring it in for service?

Thanks in advance.

.I'd get refrigerant checked first. If it is low that might explain things. The question is do you have a leak or not? If refrigerant OK then maybe something going on in the air blower fan area where a door is stuck limiting air flow over the evaporator coil where the source of cold is.

Too bad about the warranty.

[restor]

.I'd get refrigerant checked first. If it is low that might explain things. The question is do you have a leak or not? If refrigerant OK then maybe something going on in the air blower fan area where a door is stuck limiting air flow over the evaporator coil where the source of cold is.

Too bad about the warranty.

Yeah I recall that my LS400 had to have an air conditioning service at about year 3-4 also. I'll have the dealer check it out.

Thanks.

[Robert Young]

Putting a bit of R-134a into the system will probably fix it. The molecules in R-134a are apparently much smaller than the old R-12 type, so it leaks much easier. I've found that I need to put about half a can of R-134a in my wife's 1997 Volvo each year or so, with no detectable leak that a mechanic could find.

[sedanman]

Hi. My air conditoning on my 2005 LS430 is warm at startup for about 10 minutes, and then gets colder. Vehicle has 33k miles on it, just out of warranty.

My Honda Ridgeline is cold at startup, that's the basis for comparison, so it's not my imagination or anything.

Can anyone suggest what the problem might be, and what I should tell the Lexus dealer when I bring it in for service?

Thanks in advance.

My 2004 LS430 ac also takes a while to cool the car down when it has been out in the sun. It takes much longer to cool down than my other cars. I had it checked and the ac was fine. I now put one of those sun screens in the front window when parked in the sun and that has helped tremendously.