Air conditioning not cold

[Briano]

Hi guys,

A family member has a 2015 1.0 litre petrol Yaris  with air con.  It is a low mileage car for its age and the air con is not working.  It might need the refrigerant to be topped up, just wondering if there is any other “known” issues.  Just wondering if something else is wrong as when the car is idling I don’t notice a change in engine load when I turn on and off the air con switch on the dash (which is illuminating)

Thanks

Brian

[FROSTYBALLS]

How often is the air con used? If not used regularly, the seals may dry out and allow leakage. One can use it in winter together with the heater to demist more effectively - 

We just leave ours on all year round. 

[RUToyota]

Sounds like there's not enough refrigerant to allow the compressor to kick in.

Needs a system check and refill...as Mike say..you may have leaks.

[bathtub tom]

I'd suggest your first port of call would be an A/C specialist. If the gas has been gone for some time, then there's a likelihood of water vapour being in the system and then a new dryer would be necessary. A specialist will suck out any existing gas and oil, weigh it and leave a vacuum on the system to check for leaks. If there's a leak, there's no point in re-filling the system. If the system tests OK, they can then re-fill it with the correct amount of gas and oil. I've heard some places can charge as little as forty quid.

I've recently had mine done, it lost around a third of the gas over seven years, which seems to be an acceptable rate of loss. It cost seventy quid at an independant and the A/C's still crap. It works, but nowhere near as well as other cars I've had.

[FROSTYBALLS]

Just a thought, being a 2015 model the car probably has/had the newer, more expensive gas R1234yf rather than R134a. Should be a label in the engine bay or underneath the bonnet confirming which gas.

[mrpj]

Yes, type of refrigerant and system mass.

When I had a service and requested a regas, earlier this year, they asked which gas because around 2014 Toyota changed to the more expensive version (according to the garage). Fortunately R134a in mine. He did say that a different, expensive, machine is required to deal with more expensive R1234yf gas.

Mike's "thought" is probably correct.

I wonder when that will be replaced by R12345yf?!

Probably needs a regas, as already suggested. System pressure too low and preventing the compressor to compress. The a.c. switch will illuminate even though the compressor is not on. Could be a swashplate type rather than a clutch.

[Auris James]

On my 2015 Auris with 32000 miles the condenser rad was leaking on the bottom right corner on looking through the grille. Vulnerable to stone damage. Thankfully replaced under warranty.

James.

[Briano]

Thanks guys for the advice. I’ll drop to a local a/c specialist and see what they find

[mrpj]

20 hours ago, Auris James said:

Thankfully replaced under warranty.

You were lucky there James. They didn't blame a stone which is possibly not warranty covered? Full marks to them for that though.

[TonyHSD]

I haven’t used mine for months, turned ON the other day set at 22C° wasn’t blowing too cold but outside wasn’t too hot either, yesterday used again and was blowing freezing cold 🥶❄️👌, nice as always😊. Auris gen 1 has really good air con/heating system., can’t complain here. I do recommended service every 2-3 years and cabin filter change 5 times a year due to a higher miles. Blower motor never turned off always spinning at speed 2. 

[Auris James]

3 hours ago, mrpj said:

You were lucky there James. They didn't blame a stone which is possibly not warranty covered? Full marks to them for that though.

I certainly was! Where it was leaking no stone damage in area, so covered under warranty! Initially declined and dealer sent more pictures and explained only done 2k miles in car as had it for 6 months. Accepted, and then waited 10 weeks for new condenser as on back order. I have to say I can't fault my local Inchcape dealer. Would of been a £500 repair!

James.👍

[Auris James]

2 hours ago, TonyHSD said:

I haven’t used mine for months, turned ON the other day set at 22C° wasn’t blowing too cold but outside wasn’t too hot either, yesterday used again and was blowing freezing cold 🥶❄️👌, nice as always😊. Auris gen 1 has really good air con/heating system., can’t complain here. I do recommended service every 2-3 years and cabin filter change 5 times a year due to a higher miles. Blower motor never turned off always spinning at speed 2. 

I had my AC on a few days ago too and had it set manually on and found not that cold. The next day set it on Auto at 18 degrees and it was really cold. Strange but worked well since! Mine is a MK2 2015 Auris. Last September had new Condenser at Toyota.  I wonder if it has a sensor and only blows colder if needed to save hybrid power?

James👍

[TonyHSD]

37 minutes ago, Auris James said:

I had my AC on a few days ago too and had it set manually on and found not that cold. The next day set it on Auto at 18 degrees and it was really cold. Strange but worked well since! Mine is a MK2 2015 Auris. Last September had new Condenser at Toyota.  I wonder if it has a sensor and only blows colder if needed to save hybrid power?

James👍

Hi, yes all cars have temperature sensor on the dashboard around the steering wheel and if not too hot outside the car air con system sucks colder air from outside and the compressor doesn’t need to work too hard., if outside air is hot the car automatically goes into recirculating mode and eases the work of the compressor. When AC is on and works hard the car reduces its ev time a lot., the ice kicks in more often while driving in town especially. 👍

[HughA]

Had my 2016 Yaris Hybrid serviced last year and dealer asked if I had noticed the air con wasn't very cold.  They said the condenser was leaking and booked the car in for a replacement under warranty. Very happy that they picked up a fault that I didn't know about!

[loz8]

Coincidence or what? condencer replaced under warrantee. While aircon worked just fine [on more than most].

Following service suggested a regas,not taken up. It is  still working..

But this printed on service record. Would this void any warrantee?.

[Mooly]

I don't understand the context of what you are saying tbh.

Condenser replaced under warranty... did you mention a problem or was it done for some other reason. Maybe there is a known issue if they are replacing them whether working or not.

The system would be fully regassed after replacing the condenser because the system has to be emptied to work on and then pumped back down to a vacuum before any fresh refrigerant (gas) can be introduced.