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justkay
New User
Apr 3, 2010, 1:41 PM
Post #1 of 4
(10825 views)
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A/C works intermittently
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I have a 2003 Toyota Corolla, manual transmission, with 38k Milles.
Last year when I turned on the A/C there was no cold air. The shop told me I needed a new evaporator core for the A/C ,which surprised me with that few miles on it. I had it done & it worked fine on the short drive home. The next day when I turned it on, there was no cold air blowing out. I brought it back & was told I needed a new A/C hose. I had that done. A few weeks later the air bag lite came on & stayed on. By then I was wary of that car shop so brought it to the dealer. The dealer said I needed a new spiral cable assembly in the steering wheel so I had that done. They said it may have been damaged when the evaporator core was installed. Everything seemed all right & it was with the short (less than 30 minutes) drives I took. However, when I took a long drive I discovered that I only got cold air blowing out for about 30 minutes. Then it was warm air. I found that turning the A/C off for about 15-20 minutes & then turning it back on gave me cold air again for about 30 minutes. The cycle repeats.
I live in Florida & it is heating up here so I need to tackle this problem again. I don't know who to trust & am hoping I can get a handle on this problem before I try again.
Can anyone out there help me?
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Tom Greenleaf
Ultimate Carjunky
/ Moderator
Apr 3, 2010, 3:25 PM
Post #2 of 4
(10820 views)
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Re: A/C works intermittently
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Arggh! The steering column should not be involved in an evaporator core which is on the other side so that if fixed now may be a coincidence.
Right along it was probably just a leak misdiagnosed as to where. Those leaks were so fast it shouldn't have held a vacuum and been a warning not to proceed until it could at least do that then move on and charge it to the specific weight of refrigerant.
It ran cool for a while so the basic system works IMO. You still have a leak and some, especially as they get low will "evaporate" early freezing up the evaporator which won't blow cold and as you said shut if off it probably just melt down and works again for a while till frosted up.
You need to know or find someone who can find the leak still at large it seems. The tricky leak is the shaft of the compressor as it may not demonstrate itself all the time but usually leaves oil mess evidence. Another common leak is damage to the condenser (radiator looking thing up front right behind grille) can catch a rock, road debris and be done in a second or a slow leak. Again that near always shows oil stains.
Just FYI 65% or more of lack of cooling problems are leaks - some simple some not as you've found out by price no doubt.
I really think it would help you to find a shop that really takes on A/C seriously with all the equipment to diagnose this first and fix it once. Bad luck happens with a rock entering the grille not different than catching a nail in a tire - that could happen anytime but your story sounds like you need better help,
T
(edit - added "not" to steering column involved with evap)
(This post was edited by Tom Greenleaf on Apr 3, 2010, 5:12 PM)
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Hammer Time
Ultimate Carjunky
/ Moderator
Apr 3, 2010, 3:53 PM
Post #3 of 4
(10816 views)
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Re: A/C works intermittently
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Listen to Tom here.
Air conditioning repairs are the most misdiagnosed repairs there are. Everybody thinks it's easy to do A/C work but when it only works for a short time, it's an indication that they did not know what they were doing and misdiagnosed the repair. Get it to someone that specializes in A/C. There are plenty of them in Florida.
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