AC haunted

It sounds like you have an electrical issue. Mice may have chewed wires. Does your compressor run? Toyotas are not very user friendly when it comes to disassembling the dash. I would avoid it if you are not sure the problem is in the dash.

Thank you! I'm going to go find the compressor and check to see if it runs. This is all kind of ironic considering that the reason I finally got rid of my 1998 Camaro was because I couldn't seem to get the air conditioning fixed, and now here I am with a much newer car with the same problem. The Camaro probably had a leak though, because it already had a new compressor.

What year is this vehicle? What engine is in this vehicle? Mileage? Is the AC indicator light ...or....any other lights on or flashing? Perhaps this AC System is low on refrigerant?.

2013 4 cylinder 30,000 miles, bought it new. AC light comes on, fan blows (warm air, sometimes warmer than outside air), recirculating light comes on, just no cooling this year. I replaced the paper filter last week and drove it for about an hour with two stops (parked), but still no cool air. I'm going to go out and look at it right now while I'm thinking of it, as I usually forget all about it until I get in the car and remember that I have no ac.

I suspect the AC system is low on refrigerant. We usually use an AC Guage set to diagnose AC systems. I think you will need a Pro to diagnose this issue.

I found the tubes that go to the compressor and there were no visible leaks, but I couldn't hear it do anything different when I turned the ac on and off. I did however, watch a time lapse video of someone taking the entire dash apart to replace a condenser, so I hope that's not what's wrong with my car because if it is I don't think I'm ever going to have ac again! Someone else suggested that it might be low on refrigerant, but if it is low wouldn't that mean that there's a leak? I had that problem with my old Camaro. The garage replaced the compressor, but then it kept losing the refrigerant until I finally got tired of taking it back and retired it. One more question, though. Should I try to find a place that specializes in ac to diagnose and then possibly repair, or does it make more sense to just take it to a Toyota dealer?

Most repair shops should be able to diagnose your vehicle. I do not believe a trip to a Toyota Dealer is required. Suggest you get an estimate of parts and labor needed to repair....then get back to us.

Thank you! I will return, as this has been very helpful to me.

So I've been driving my Camry around with no ac for what seems like months, although it's probably only been a month. Two days ago it was raining and my windshield started to fog up so I hit the front defrost button, and apparently, just left it there. Then today I was driving the car (with all the windows down), wanted some air from the fan too, so hit the button that makes the fan blow air out of the vents on the dash. Unbelievably, the ac started blowing cold air. Tried it a couple more times, and I'm not sure, but it looks like I may have to hit the front defrost button first and then switch to the dash one to get the ac to work? I know I've tried this before because I tried every possible combination when I was trying to tell if the compressor was working (didn't think it was because I couldn't hear anything change when I turned the ac on and off) and the fan was the only thing that seemed to be working then. This time I had the ac filter out (the mice have already chewed it again) when the ac started working again, so I cleaned the filter and put it back in and the ac still works. No telling how long it'll work, but the last few years once it started working again it continued to work all summer. Can't believe it started working again just in time for our first heat wave this summer! :-)

Sounds like congrats are in order for.....the mice? When mice start feeding on a AC ......Cabin Filter.....they leave lots of crumbs behind. If those crumbs get caught in the evaporator of the AC System...they will obstruct air flow through the system........thus poor cooling. So...question.....how do we keep wild life out of your HVAC system? '...

New plan: I'm working on plugging all the holes in the barn so I can put my car and a cat in there, and maybe that, along with the mouse traps inside the car, will solve my mouse problem? Have no idea what kind of filters are in the air ducts behind the dash, but I'm hoping that the paper bits from the ac filter will eventually clear out. Probably just wishful thinking, though.

Sounds like a plan. We find most of the intrusion points are the evaporator Drain....and....the air intake for the HVAC . The evap drain is under the vehicle where the system sheds water when in operation.....thus....you may have noticed water on the ground when you park your car. The air intake is usually located at the base of the windshield. You should not plug the evap drain. Fitting a small SS screen is appropiate. Checking the screen at the base of the windshield and removing same might yeild a NEST of little tiny dead or alive mice. Check that tasty filter weekly for an update on this interesting issue.

I just found a good diagram of the heating and cooling system for my car at repairpal.com. That should help, even though I can see that the evaporator is buried deep in the dash underneath the heater core. Don't know if it will copy here....

Ok..my approach to this issue and many like it. Always do the easiest and cheapest thing first. Keep us up to date..

Making some progress. The ac still works now and then, and one of the times it started working I had the filter out. So I've been driving around with the filter out and pushing buttons randomly, which wasn't working so I decided to put the filter back in to get it out of the way. But as long as I had it out I got a mirror and flashlight to look down into the black hole. Couldn't really see much so stuck my hand down in there and found pieces of dried leaves and about half a dozen good sized pieces of beech nut shells. So I cleaned them out and put it back together, and voila, the rate of cooling is increasing. I still have to push buttons to switch from the defroster to the dash air sometimes, but the cold air is coming through more often. I haven't found the source recently, but thought I read somewhere that the ac has to have a certain air flow rate before it'll start cooling, so I'm thinking that the ducts are still plugged up somewhere? So my next step is going to be to take the covers off the air ducts to see if I can find any prizes down in there, and if not, then the big cover around the radio is going to have to come off. From what I can gather from utube vids, that stuff just pries off?

Ok.....sounds like good news and a good plan. Last time I saw a Toyota tech remove the entire plastic dash covers it took him 5 min. He had a plastic tool which looked like a small pry bar. Indeed....everything just popped right out. You are correct about the air flow issue......but.....ultimately....the air MUST flow through the AC Evaporator. This EV looks like a small radiator in appearance...and.....is the AC component that actually gets cold. Air is blown through the EV...and....doors and duct work send cold air through out the vehicle. Suggest you do you homework before ripping and tearing. Keep us up to date.

The vent covers just pull right out of the dash, although I didn't find anything in there when I got them out so put them back in. I do have some new developments to report, though. Seems that if I drive the car for a mile or two with the ac on, then pull over and shut the car off for a couple minutes and then start it back up, the ac will start to cool. One time all I did was stop and back up, and then when I put it back in drive the ac started to cool. I'm starting to think it might be some kind of a sensor problem, although it could be a short, or maybe the air flow is still blocked but it's borderline? It's a mystery to me what's going on, but I at this rate I might get it figured out just in time for winter.

Kande..what new with this vehicle? Good news I hope?

Thanks for the reminder. I never did figure out what the problem was, and now that it's cooled off I'll wait until spring to take it in. I continued to run the fan with the A/C on all summer, and it continued to cool at random--about every 3rd time I drove it, but not necessarily on any kind of a regular schedule. It did start stinking a few weeks ago so I stopped running the A/C because I though it might be a belt or something. It smelled like roasting coffee beans, and smelled even when the A/C was off, so maybe I was just cremating one of the little furry things who probably caused this problem in the first place. And now it's cool enough here so I don't need A/C, and the heat works, so no sense in taking it in to find out what's wrong with the A/C until spring. Unless the heater stops working, in which case I'll be taking it in tomorrow! Thank you to everyone who helped me with this, and I will let you know what the problem was as soon as I find out.

So now it's spring (summer, actually) and my ac is still haunted, but improving. Found the fuse box, but didn't see anything in there that looked bad so now I'm back to driving the car a few miles with the ac and fan on, pulling over, shutting it off and restarting. If I wait long enough (a couple minutes) after I shut it off it'll usually start to blow cold air when I restart the car. As before, once I can get the ac to start it cools as well as it did when it was new. So it's all still a mystery, but the ac is working more reliably than it did last year so I'm motivated to keep futzing around with it to see if I can figure out what the problem is. Or maybe if I'm lucky it'll just fix itself.

As noted above. You might have moisture mixed in with the refrigerent. Ultimately...you will need to spend a few dollars for an evacuation....replace the Receiver Drier....place the system into a deep vacuum for about an hour...then recharge the system. This is the only way to rule out...a moisture issue. Good luck and keep us up to date on this interesting issue.

My AC's been coming on more and more often so at least it's improving! Maybe the mouse debris is breaking down and somehow getting blown out of the system? It most often kicks on after I've driven a few miles (with the AC and fan on), stopped, shut off the car, and restarted-- although sometimes it just spontaneously kicks on after I've been driving for awhile. If it doesn't get worse I can live with it the way it is now.

Update: As of August 15, 2020 no real change. Haven't driven the car much this year because of covid, but it was hot enough in July that I did use the AC a few times. Same issue (AC seldom works when I first start the car), same solution (turn off and restart once or twice, sometimes more, and eventually the cold air will come on shortly after the engine is restarted). I don't know if it's better or worse than when the issue first started 3 or 4 years ago, but now I just have more confidence that I can get the AC to come on eventually if I keep restarting. My starter probably won't last as long as it would have, but for the 2 months when it gets hot around here, and as infrequently as I drive the car (6000 miles/year), it may not make any difference. There's probably a good explanation for what's going on, but as long as I can get the AC to come on when it's 90 degrees out I can live with it the way it is. I just think it's odd that it never seems to get better or worse.

Thanks for the update. Interesting issue. Keep us informed.