I'm having a strange problem with the air conditioning system in my 1998 Tacoma. It is a regular cab with the 2.4L 4 cylinder and automatic transmission.
Quick history on this issue. Up until a month or so ago, the system was completely original. It wasn't getting very cold any more so I had my AC guy come and take a look. He diagnosed a leaking evaporator core. He replaced it, evacuated system and recharged it. It seemed to work fine for a couple of weeks but then stopped getting cold after driving for 30-40 minutes. I took a look under the hood to see if the compressor was engaged and found the AC line to be frozen (looked like a white popsicle).
My AC guy suspected a bad thermistor which we then replaced. He didn't have a thermistor with the correct connector on hand so he cut and spliced the original connector with the new thermistor. This didn't solve the problem.
He felt the only other thing that could cause this would be a bad AC amplifier. I managed to find an allegedly new OEM amplifier on Ebay for a good price and installed it. It did look new and matched the OEM one exactly. It initially seemed to be working well as the system cycled pretty quickly while running in my driveway. I thought all was well as it didn't freeze up after a 20 minute drive to work this morning. The drive home took a bit longer however and I found the AC line frozen once again.
My next course of action is to try the correct OEM thermistor. I picked one up from the local dealer (only $6) but I'm not too optimistic. The AC guy said he has never had this happen before and is out of ideas. I do trust him as he has been in the auto AC repair business for 25+ years and has always done good work for me. He probably wishes I would just go away at this point.
Any AC experts out there with some ideas or known Tacoma AC issues I am unaware of?
Thanks for any input!
Quick history on this issue. Up until a month or so ago, the system was completely original. It wasn't getting very cold any more so I had my AC guy come and take a look. He diagnosed a leaking evaporator core. He replaced it, evacuated system and recharged it. It seemed to work fine for a couple of weeks but then stopped getting cold after driving for 30-40 minutes. I took a look under the hood to see if the compressor was engaged and found the AC line to be frozen (looked like a white popsicle).
My AC guy suspected a bad thermistor which we then replaced. He didn't have a thermistor with the correct connector on hand so he cut and spliced the original connector with the new thermistor. This didn't solve the problem.
He felt the only other thing that could cause this would be a bad AC amplifier. I managed to find an allegedly new OEM amplifier on Ebay for a good price and installed it. It did look new and matched the OEM one exactly. It initially seemed to be working well as the system cycled pretty quickly while running in my driveway. I thought all was well as it didn't freeze up after a 20 minute drive to work this morning. The drive home took a bit longer however and I found the AC line frozen once again.
My next course of action is to try the correct OEM thermistor. I picked one up from the local dealer (only $6) but I'm not too optimistic. The AC guy said he has never had this happen before and is out of ideas. I do trust him as he has been in the auto AC repair business for 25+ years and has always done good work for me. He probably wishes I would just go away at this point.
Any AC experts out there with some ideas or known Tacoma AC issues I am unaware of?
Thanks for any input!
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