Rav 4 Air Con Fault ?

[Skimanyid]

Hi I have a Rav 4 XT4 VVTI (2004) petrol which i purchased as a used car from Toyota dealer in April 08. Since then I have returned the car several times to deal with some problems which have been covered by the 1 year warranty which came with the car. Although I have found out how much you have to insist as they have tried to fob me off with each fault in the first instance.

The last fault I have is with the air conditioning which has an intermittent fault. Sometimes when operating it shuts off and the light on switch starts flashing, handbook says you have a fault and return to main dealer. When I first raised this issue they said they found no fault and just re gassed and put in a dye to check for leaks but found none.

The intermittent fault continued. I waited until the fault occured again and drove the car 15 miles to my dealer and insisted they came out to see the flashing light for themselves, they inspected again and said a compression swith was faulty so it went back in to have this repair completed all under warranty.

I'm still experiencing the fault, all be it not as often, I have spoken to them again and they are willing to re look so I'm waiting for a convieniant time for the fault to show itself again before I drive 15 miles again to the dealer ( I know my way there blind folded).

Has anyone experienced a similar fault so I can point the technicians in the right direction coz i'm getting the impression that if the plug in diagnostics does not pick up the fault they look no further and fob you off.

My warranty runs out April 09 so I am keen to mop up this last issue before it runs out.

Can anyone suggest anything ?

Cheers

[anchorman]

Hi mate

How good are you at electrics?

There are several tests you can do which amount to checking the resistance in various components. I can send you all the stuff but it is in pdf format so you would need to pm me with your email address. The fault diagnosis table suggests various tests on the pressure side so first a question....

Does the air con seem to work when the light is flashing? My old Corolla used to do it from time to time but just switching the ignition off and then back on cancelled it. The air con belt is permanently connected to the pump and there is a clutch integrally mounted inside the pulley. When the pressure falls the pressure switch signals the clutch and engages the pulley. If you look down at the compressor and watch it while the air con is on, you will see it switching on and off and the pulley will be driving then free wheeling. During the compressing cycle, the engile will "idle up" to compensate for the drag.

Just watch it doing all that for a while then try to do the same when you get the fault. It might help you home in on the faulty component.

If after trying the tests on the pdfs you find nothing, take it back to the agent. If they fail and it runs out of warranty you might find that a good ac specialist might know more.

Let me know if you want the files.

[Skimanyid]

Hi mate

How good are you at electrics?

There are several tests you can do which amount to checking the resistance in various components. I can send you all the stuff but it is in pdf format so you would need to pm me with your email address. The fault diagnosis table suggests various tests on the pressure side so first a question....

Does the air con seem to work when the light is flashing? My old Corolla used to do it from time to time but just switching the ignition off and then back on cancelled it. The air con belt is permanently connected to the pump and there is a clutch integrally mounted inside the pulley. When the pressure falls the pressure switch signals the clutch and engages the pulley. If you look down at the compressor and watch it while the air con is on, you will see it switching on and off and the pulley will be driving then free wheeling. During the compressing cycle, the engile will "idle up" to compensate for the drag.

Just watch it doing all that for a while then try to do the same when you get the fault. It might help you home in on the faulty component.

If after trying the tests on the pdfs you find nothing, take it back to the agent. If they fail and it runs out of warranty you might find that a good ac specialist might know more.

Let me know if you want the files.

[Skimanyid]

Thanks for the reply, my mechanics are very poor just about know which way round a screw driver goes!

When the air con flashes it is no longer cooling the air, if I turn the AC off and then on again it works fine for either 10 mins or all the journey.

Unless someone has had the same fault and can be specific I guess I'll keep throwing it back to the dealer.

Thanks again

[anchorman]

It sounds like the system is capable but fails to make pressure due to the intermittent fault.

Ask the dealer to check the compressor clutch;