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Tag: climate control

If At First You Don't Succeed - Fixing the A/C, Again

Let's see, how did this start last time. Ahh, right... For two years now, my A/C hasn't really worked. At some point - 17 years after it was originally installed - it developed a slow leak. As spring turned to summer in 2018, I noticed that - as Nelly might say - "it's getting hot in herre," even as I cranked up the cold.from It's Too Damn Hot In Here - Fixing the A/C Evap Core Well, I replaced the A/C evap core and things worked well for all of one week. While that sounds bad - and I guess…

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It's Too Damn Hot In Here - Fixing the A/C Evap Core

For two years now, my A/C hasn't really worked. At some point - 17 years after it was originally installed - it developed a slow leak. As spring turned to summer in 2018, I noticed that - as Nelly might say - "it's getting hot in herre," even as I cranked up the cold. For a while, I ignored it. There was no way I was ready to tackle the A/C system from a skills perspective - or so I thought at the time - and I knew that taking it to a shop was going to be rather expensive.…

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Charging the A/C System on a 1st Gen Tacoma (or 3rd Gen 4Runner)

Any time any component of your A/C system is replaced, it's a necessary to recharge the system with refrigerant. This generally costs in the $150 range at the shop, but you can do it yourself for under $100 the first time, and have the necessary tools to do it for $20 any time after that! And, if you're doing it as part of replacing other parts of your A/C system, here's how you do it all: Tools and Supplies To recharge your A/C, you'll need the following tools: A/C Diagnostic Manifold Gauge Set - this gauge set would allow me…

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Replacing the A/C Receiver/Drier on a 1st gen Tacoma

Any time a major component of your A/C system is replaced, it's a good idea to also replace the Receiver/Drier. This component of your system removes water (vapor) from the internals of the system that can freeze when the refrigerant in the system is below 0°C, causing the system to become blocked and preventing it from keeping you cool. It's not an expensive part (relatively speaking), and replacing it is easy - and here's how you do it. And, if you're doing it as part of replacing other parts of your A/C system, here's how you do it all: The…

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Replacing the A/C Compressor on a 5VZFE (Tacoma, Tundra, 4Runner)

Background - If At First You Don't Succeed... My A/C hasn't worked for the last couple of years and I'd finally gotten around to fixing it - or at least, so I thought! A local Toyota dealer theoretically diagnosed my issue as being a problem with my A/C Evap Core, and I set about fixing that in It's Too Damn Hot In Here - Fixing the A/C. Turns out, that didn't fix the problem - and so next on my list was replacing the only moving part in the system - the A/C compressor. That's a story worth reading in…

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Replacing the A/C Evaporator Core on a 1st gen Tacoma

The Backstory My A/C hasn't worked for the last couple of years and I've finally gotten around to fixing it. That's a story worth reading in itself, and if you're interested, check out It's Too Damn Hot In Here - Fixing the A/C. But, if all you're interested in is how to replace your A/C evap core (and related components) and the A/C Receiver/Drier, then simply keep reading below... Gathering Parts If you're going to replace the Evap Core, you might as well replace all the other components that are in the same housing, since it's a bit of a pain…

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