AC Just Died!

I have a 2003 Camry XLE with 65K miles. The AC has always been ice cold even in the Florida summer weather. It was still ice cold yesterday when all of a sudden the AC light on the dash started flashing and it started blowing warm air. Shutting the system off and turning it back on only keeps the light green for a few moments and then it starts flashing again.

I checked the low side pressure with a gauge, because I was sure that the problem wasn't low freon, (it's always been ice cold right up until the moment it failed). The pressure is showing as very high, almost two times higher than recommended, (which I believe is 60psi or so??).

What could be the cause of this? I've found other suspected causes of the flashing light when I did a Google search, but none mention the high freon pressure symptom that I'm seeing. I'm the original owner, and I've never added freon or oil to the system.

Reply to
guvner
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A reading of 60psi when the system is off is a bit on the low side, actually. When the compressor is running, the low side should be 20 - 30 or so. When the compressor shuts off, both sides equalize and you usuallly see total system pressure around 90 - 100psi. I would bet your problem is low refrigerant. I would recommend having the system evacuated and vacuumed, and a leak check performed. Modern AC machines will display the weight of refrigerant removed, so at that point you will be able to determine if low regrigerant is indeed the cause.

Reply to
qslim

sorry I can't help you with a diagnosis, but as to the "Freon" I hope you're just using the old name and realize that the R-134 in your system is NOT Freon, and is incompatible with Freon.

Unless you know your way around A/C systems, I'd advise going to an air conditioning specialist.... who'd probably NOT be at the Toyota dealer's shop.

Reply to
mack

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