Re: What does it cost to rebuild an engine usually?

TURN THE DAMN AC OFF BY SETTING THE DIAL TO FLOOR.

What the Hell is wrong with you? People all over the universe have figured this out, and you bitch about the AC being on when you DON'T EVEN NEED THE FEATURE (Defrost) YOU HAVE SELECTED.

You don't need Defrost inside of a cold car, you need inside of a warm one. Turn the heat on HI until you get some, then swtich to Defrost IF the windows are fogging. If the windows are not fogging, then leave the f---ing dial alone and be happy.

You don't need Defrost when it is cold BOTH inside and outside, you do need Defrost when it is warm inside and cold outside.

You walk around outside breathing, but for some reason you can't drive around and breathe unless you tie a plastic bag over your head to keep the outside out and the inside in. I don't get it. You can live outside and breathe without a gas mask, but as soon as you get in the car, your alergies flare up. Recirculate is the same thing as pulling a plastic bag over your head. Well, it's a plastic bag with a couple of vent holes so you don't kill yourself, but this level of detail really isn't germane to the discussion. (I suppose that if the plastic bag didn't have holes in it, you would complain that you get woozie, so maybe it is germain to the discussion.)

The car is not going to produce any heat for the cabin until the engine warms up, so you should set the heat to HI, fan to LO, and shiver for a while. That's what everybody does, and it doesn't matter that they drive a $300,000 Maseratti, or a $1500 Yugo. Well, the guy with the Maseratti might send the butler out to do the shiverring, but somebody is gonna be cold for the first few minutes. That's a fact.

They have been building cars for over 100 years now, and you complain they still don't do it right. Toyota follows the practices of the majority of automakers in regards to automatically turning the AC on with Defrost. I happen to agree with you that I might want air blowing onthe glass and not have the AC on at the same time, but unless you have a button that lets you power the compressor, or not, as you see fit, then it is what it is and you have to learn to deal with it.

You've been complaining of this for months now, and we have told you as many ways to outsmart the "problem," but you refuse to do any of them.

Sell the damn car, and then tell me what kind of car you are getting instead so I don't buy one and end up on a news group that you visit. Sheesh!

Life is tough.

Exactly. It seems wrong but if you think about it for a minute it is right. A cold engine is open loop and running pig rich, leaving the heat off lets it get to a leaner and hotter burning mixture faster which also gets you warm faster and has an added bonus of reducing the overall emissions and engine wear at the same time. My car is a '97 Chevy Lumina 3.1 and I always leave the fan off till the temp gauge gets to the second "pip" which is the start of the "normal" range (and is also the point where TCC lockup is enabled).

BTW thermostats don't always fail open or shut, I had one that started opening at 165° but still wasn't fully open at 210° which caused the gauge to bounce around.

My car A/C doesn't have any refrigerant in it, the accumulator and condenser lines are conveniently located directly below the battery and as such have pinholes corroded in them.

There are several ways to prevent the compressor from coming on.

You have never explained why you want the air blowing at the windshield, but if it is to keep it from blowing at your face, the very simple solution for me is to just point the center vents at the ceiling. You can have the air control on bi-level where it comes out the center vents (pointed at the ceiling) as well as the floor, and the compressor doesn't cycle on.

I thought you mentioned that you have experience working on electronics, and installing a separate switch for the compressor clutch is very simple.

If you don't want the compressor to come on at all and are willing to let the seals deteriorate, just unplug the connector from the compressor clutch.

Several people have posted replies to the original question. Bottom line, you can get a cheap rebuild of questionable quality for under $1,000. This is the preferred method for people who like to complain.

A quality engine rebuild or replacement will be north of $2,000.

It seems like you are putting up with a huge hassle to avoid having to reach over to turn on the front defogger. I do not find it that much of a hassle to slide the lever, twist the knob, or push the button for the front defogger when the front window fogs up. If it starts raininng or snowing when the passenger compartment is already warmed up, my windows generally do not fog up because I have the air intake to fresh. The windows will fog more readidly with the intake on recirc, so the solution is to turn on the front defogger. Air quality is generally better on rainy or snowy days because the precipitation and winds clear particulates from the air (like a Rainbow vacuum or water bath air cleaner) so the fresh air shouldn't be as much of a problem.

Like I said, reach over and turn on the front defogger. For me, it doesn't take that much effort to do that on rainy or snowy days.

I'm pretty sure that it is not necessary to crawl under the dash to access the wiring at the back of the AC switch. Cutting wires is usually a bad idea anyway. Just back one of the terminals out of the connector at the clutch, wire in a switch, push the wires through one of the wire loom grommets in the firewall, hook up the secondary switch, and you're good to go after 5 or 10 minutes of work.

OK, then just unplug the connector from the clutch. 30 seconds and you're done.

Just don't let Midas rebuild you're engine for you ;-)

It's because you seem not to comprehend what anyone says. :/ I've already mentioned that with the vent set to "floor", in most all cases some air is also routed to the windshield. All cars are this way, and have been for years. Test it out and see. Don't take my word for it.

In fact, I just went out to my car and started it up to test mine. I set the vent to floor, and the temp to hot. I still had some air going to the windshield. They design it that way just for the issue you describe. After a while the glass gets hot and dry, even with no compressor, and it is not as prone to fog. Almost all cars heaters work this way no matter what year.

And if it still fogs for some reason, then you can go to the floor/windshield defrost setting and it will vanish quick. The compressor will come on, but with the temp set to warm, you will not feel any cold air as the coolant is warm. In my case, the car heats very fast. It's the fastest warming car I've ever had so far. I can start it in the garage, back out, get out and close the garage door, get back in the car, and by the time I'm backing out into the street, the air is starting to feel warm.

Anyway, I've given you the exact solution to have it work like you want, and it seems to go in through one side, and out the other without sticking to the brain pan. You still want to trade a perfectly good car in for a beater that needs a new engine because you refuse to use the proper vent settings. :|

I give up. Some people you just can't reach.. It boggles the mind really.. :/ I'll have no more to say about it. It's obvious it will be a waste of time.