Rav 4 Air Conditioning

[kenjo]

Hi.

My wife and I bought a Dec 2003 Rav4 2 litre petrol 4 weeks ago with 3 months warranty from a second hand car dealer. Something was wrong with the air con system almost immediately after we brought it home as the air con light was flashing. I rang the car dealer we bought it from and he suggested it just needed a top-up. He said it was working when we had it but I doubt that. Anyway our local garage attempted to top it up but it was full. To cut a long story short, he had another look at it and got a second opinion to confirm that the air con unit is seized and needs replacing. He says that he cannot find an alternative unit other than from Toyota at about £570 . He is not sure that it comes with the clutch and if not, that would be another £270.

The dealer who we bought the car says the warranty only covers the first £500. We feel we have been conned a bit - air conned perhaps - sorry. Has anyone any ideas or sourcing new aircon units for the Rav other than through Toyota. Will the unit come with a clutch or is that extra.

Thanks in advance, for any advice you can give.

Ken

[igormus]

Hi.

My wife and I bought a Dec 2003 Rav4 2 litre petrol 4 weeks ago with 3 months warranty from a second hand car dealer. Something was wrong with the air con system almost immediately after we brought it home as the air con light was flashing. I rang the car dealer we bought it from and he suggested it just needed a top-up. He said it was working when we had it but I doubt that. Anyway our local garage attempted to top it up but it was full. To cut a long story short, he had another look at it and got a second opinion to confirm that the air con unit is seized and needs replacing. He says that he cannot find an alternative unit other than from Toyota at about £570 . He is not sure that it comes with the clutch and if not, that would be another £270.

The dealer who we bought the car says the warranty only covers the first £500. We feel we have been conned a bit - air conned perhaps - sorry. Has anyone any ideas or sourcing new aircon units for the Rav other than through Toyota. Will the unit come with a clutch or is that extra.

Thanks in advance, for any advice you can give.

Ken

Ken, Hi

Whether or not you want it - you should investigate where the leak spot is to evaluate the risk rate and ways to cure it.

I deem there might be a minor leak belong to hte system. Try to do first stepss and come back. Good luck/Igor

[IanXT4]

Hi Ken

A compressor will usually always come with the clutch unit. Clutch units are also sometimes available separately as spares depending on the design of the compressor. (Some clutches require changing main seals to replace them)

Re-manufactured compressors are available to the trade. See http://www.compressortech.co.uk/trade.html

Additionally a good source of parts in the UK is http://www.eurocarparts.com

However, when a compressor fails depending on how it has failed (ie is it an internal failure) it can contaminate the whole aircon system. If this has happened, fitting a new unit will just cause the new compressor to fail after a fairly short period, as it will ingest the swarf and debris from the old compressor. In this situation the system needs professional flushing and diagnosis before fitting a new unit.

If you are lucky its an external failure (ie a clutch unit) and a new compressor or clutch will fix the problem. However, make sure they replace the correct amount of compressor oil and it is usually recommended that the drier is replaced (unit that removes internal moisture from the gas).

I would suggest you google and see if there is a local car aircon specialist available. Hopefully they can give you free advice on what the problem is likely to be and what they would recommend as a suitable course of action.

You can then approach your supplying dealer

Rgds

Ian

[kenjo]

Thanks Ian for info. I see that Europarts is out of stock at the moment but quoted a compressor over £100 cheaper. Will have to see what the warranty people will allow now and what limit they will go to.

Ken

[Andrew Corser]

Thanks Ian for info. I see that Europarts is out of stock at the moment but quoted a compressor over £100 cheaper. Will have to see what the warranty people will allow now and what limit they will go to.

Ken

I have a 2002 D4D Rav that has done just over 120,000 miles (70k of which I did), and the a/c compressor has just gone, according to Toyota at the last service - they quoted £510, if done at the same time as the cambelt (which would be another £250, including the water pump).

Am I being too picky to ask why, on a fully Toyota-serviced car, has this expensive item failed, even if it is after 120,000 miles? I would have expected units to keep on going for somewhat longer (apart from ones that naturally wear down, like the clutch) in a Toyota - units like starter motor, water pump, alternator etc failing at 120,000 is more Vauxhall than Toyota, isn't it? Why is the a/c pump any different?

Andrew Corser

[anchorman]

Welcome to the club.

Statistically yes but as the mileage creeps above 100k then the risk of anciliary components does creep up. That compressor has a togh job to do if it's worked hard but ironically, the worst thing that can happen is that it is left switched off - especially for the compressor clutch.

There are some strange ideas abot A/C and even heater controls for that matter. Often they will be adjusted to extremes to achieve faster warm up or cool down which should only be the case on a manual system. An auto system needs to be left alone at a comfortable temperature so it can sort itself out and will also mix recircled air with fresh. If left alone it will eventually settle down and the A/C will virtually tick over in the background keeping the compressor healthy. Opening the window has a worse effect on fuel economy.

In your case I would buy a compressor off eBay or a trade supplier and ask your Toyota garage to fit it or take the whole thing to a good local which will at least half the labour rate.

[bitman]

it's indeed what anchorman writes.

most people only use the aricon when it's hot outside to cool the vehicle down. so that means that it only runs a couple hours per year (weather permitted)?

best thing to do is use the aircon at least once a month to keep it running as also the gas lubricat the aircon system.

using the aicon in winter time clears the mist of windows faster.

[IanXT4]

If you want to do things on the cheap you can always try a modern "breakers" / used car part supplier

These days they even remove the parts and put them on the shelf. I just replaced an AC compressor on the wifes car after the compressor clutch failed.

Genuine part was serious £££'s, the equivalent part from Euro car parts was just over £300.

I didn't really want to spend £300 plus other bits/services on an old car.

A used part from the breakers http://www.asm-autos.co.uk/ was £60 (with an interesting 3 month warranty !!)

It then cost me an extra £85 to fit it myself. (de-gas, re-charge, extra PAG oil and a new drier)

I guess it would only take an hour (say £50 from an in-dependant)

Its now working fine. Lots of good cars are broken for spares that are ££'s cheaper than new parts :-)