AC problems with 2000 Echo

When you say that your AC cut out, do you mean that the AC light wouldn't come on or the fan wouldn't work or was it just blowing warm air or very little air volume coming out of the vents even though you could hear the fan working? If there is very little air volume coming out of the vents, the evaporator under the passenger side of the dash may have frozen up, like refrigerators and freezers used to do before self-defrosting became common. The buildup of ice on the evaporator prevented air from getting past This can happen in humid conditions, and the fix is to turn the AC off long enough for the ice to melt, probably 15 minutes to a half hour. Make sure the evap drain hose under the passenger side of the dash is not clogged or mis-routed - if the rug is wet or damp under there, then the hose might be mis-routed.

"Ray O" ...

I think you hit the nail on the head. The passenger side *was* dripping, so we figured something was frozen. The light came on, and you could feel cool air coming out - just barely.

So, we'll just go easy on it. My son says it should never do that (in his opinion), but it *was* damned humid yesterday.

Thanks!

Natalie

And you didn't tell me?!

OK...I see how it is. You're just afraid I'll show up with my camera and a bikini...

Buy a Prius. Be smart. Be cool.

"Wickeddoll®"rg...

Would this not mean that the AC refrigerant is low? As I understand it, when this happens in a house AC (when the evaporator in the furnace freezes over) it means low refrigerant - a leak somewhere. You might want to look at that visual port that Ray points folks to to see if you see bubbles going past it. Tomes

"Hachiroku ????" ...

I am thinking that I really do not want to see you in a bikini...... Tomes

If refrigerant is low, then it would not cool at all. Since the cooling came back, then refrigerant was not low.

There is an expansion valve that sprays refrigerant into the evaporator coil, and the expansion valve is controlled by a heat sensing tube. When the tube gets cold, it should close the expansion valve to prevent freeze-up. If the tube is bad or marginal, it might not shut the expansion valve, allowing over-cooling, or if there is moisture in the system, then the expansion valve can freeze, or if it is just too humid, the system can freeze-up. Moisture can get into the system from do-it-yourself AC charge kits (A.K.A. "suicide cans") from auto parts stores. Those kits re-fill the refrigerant without purging air and moisture from the system, causing the problems you describe. If anyone has re-filled the AC using one of those kits, then the proper fix would be to have the system evacuated and then re-charged.

If the system only happens on extremely humid days, try using the AC a hair off of max and see if it keeps working.

Stay cool!

ROFL....

I thought the same thing....

LOL I forgot you were there.

We're staying in town till Saturday - email me!

Natalie

"Tomes" ...

LOL

Natalie

"mark_digital©" ...

I saw one of those cockroaches in Connecticut - the plate said "EKOCAR"

It was green in color.

Puh-leeze.

Natalie

"Tomes" ...

Son says the leaking fluid was ice cold, so I'm thinking it was just overworked, but we'll have it looked at when we get home.

Natalie

"Ray O"

Also, it was always cool air (what little could come through). It just wasn't blowing out hard enough.

Hopefully, it's all better...

Natalie

"Ray O" ...

This is the first time it's happened, and we're too mechanically feeble to use any DIY kits!

We'll be driving up to New Hampshire this week, so I'll see how it does on that trip.

Fortunately it's only an hour and a half duration.

Natalie

If you are going to Claremont, the service department at the Toyota dealer is top-notch. I think I only had to look at 1 or 2 customer cars during the 2 years I called on them because they were able to fix everything else. If the service mgr is Bob and the assistant is Larry, tell them I said hi!

Jealous. You can't afford one so you knock it. OK.

I agree with him for the most part. It's quite likely undercharged. You might have a small leak. Mine never freezes, and I live in humid capital USA.. IE: Houston.. It's so humid here, when I drive at night all my windows fog up on the outside. Bad.. The only way an evap coil can freeze is if the coil temp drops below freezing. That is usually due to either being low on refrigerant, or a possible restriction of the intake air, IE: clogged filter, or too cool temps outside. Being it's summer, I'd cancel the last.. You might check the filter.. It's somewhere under the glove box area. If it's not dirty, I'd have the system checked. It's probably just a bit low on 134a. MK

Or "One of those cute cars" ;-) I've been seeing a (relative) lot of them around lately - sometimes 3 - 4 per day. Used to be only 2 in the area, & one of those was an '03 - or at least from the previous generation. That latter one was the pretty, pretty silvery pale aqua color. (I haven't seen that one in a while - maybe they decided to get the newer version.)

Prob. only because "ECOCAR" was already taken. ;-)

;-) Well, hey, if one's on a kick, may as well carry the theme the whole way through. Of course, by that time it's getting a little ridiculous looking to others...

Cathy