Toyota airconditioning

Having not fixed the problem, while having taken you cash, i see it as their problem, not yours. If they flushed the system badly thats their doing. Theres no way filings could get in other than a compressor failure. I'm not 100% sure how you'd "flush" and aircon system of filings though, theres a lot of places for those filings to gather and IMO flushing it will just pass them round for later finding. Ideally the pipework should have been disassembled and cleaned out before re-assembling. Either way the second failure is within the guarantee on their work/parts so return and ask for it to be fixed FOC, in a kind manner that will make them tempted to help you lol.

===================== I'm not an expert, but my understanding is that when a compressor fails it is taken for granted that the system is contaminated and has to be thoroughly cleaned before installing new parts as standard operating procedure -- precisely to avoid the type of failure you experienced. Unfortunately, this points to a lack of skill or proficiency on the part of your installer. Not sure how best to handle this. If it were me I'd likely seek to obtain another compressor under warranty -- a *new* unit if at all possible since some *rebuilt* compressors are notoriously unreliable, and then take it to someone with better credentials to have it installed. I think I remember reading that you also need to install other new parts along with the compressor - but I don't recall exactly what they are - receiver dryer I think, to avoid contamination in the system from the prior compressor failure. Any competent air conditioning mechanic will know the procedure as routine and very common -- though not necessarily inexpensive.

I don't think the incompetent A/C shop has a leg to stand on, unless they gave you a written warranty warning that their parts & labor were guaranteed for only 15 minutes.. I'd file a complaint with the credit card company (of course you paid by credit card -- it's too dangerous to use cash or check), the Better Business Bureau

-- online form), your state attorney general's consumer protection division, and contact local TV station consumer reporters.

is a great website about auto air.

into the system, so the systme is supposed to be either flushed out or filter screens installed. Also things like the expansion valve or orfice tube have to be replaced (the dryer is always rplaced). I've never heard of taking the car to a specialist to have its A/C blown out with nitrogen because I thought that all A/C shops did that regularly. Also how is nitrogen supposed to be able to flush out metal particles that are so much denser, considering alll the nooks and crannies in the A/C plumbing, especially the parallel-flow condenser? I'm no expert, but I thought that some kind of liquid was supposed to be used for that and then compressed air or nitrogen used to blow out all traces of the liquid.

What is the name of the first company?

No legitimate garage will dodge responsibility for a job that was botched so badly and that failed so soon, unless they installed parts brought to them by the customer. You're owed a new compressor and the labor to install it. Accept nothing less, and if possible have a legitimate garage do the work the next time.

Systems are flushed with solvents, even mineral spirits, not nitrogen, and then blown out with compressed air. Compressors, accumulator-driers, and regulator valves can't be flushed, and it's said flat tube condensers have such tiny passages that they can be hard to flush. Installation of a filter screen between the return line and compresor suction inlet can be a good practice.

Compressors fail for many reasons and it is not uncommon for one to do what I call a melt down and spew its guts just like that.

The system

That sounds like someone tried to clean out the system without taking it apart to do the job correctly. For example debris would not allow the metering device to work correctly.

The garage

Figures

It's not typically what happens but yes. Espessially when improperly serviced.

Any qualified a/c technician should have no problem repairing your a/c system correctly.

Nitrogen is a gas and typically used for leak testing. Flushing the system is typically done with liquid chemicals and to separate parts indivudally. ie:)condenser, evaporator coils, metering device, tubing and so on.

no

A a/c system with this problem is not a cheap repair but not a problem when reapirs are done properly.

I would expect the shop to cover all costs for repairs unless they were forced to do such a lousy job buy the owner cutting corners?

You should make sure the system components were disconnected and flushed. (can not flush the assembled system properly) The accumulator/dryer or receiver/dryer should be replaced any time the system has been exposed to air. The a/c system should work just like it did when your car was new if its repaired correctly.

GL Dan

Yes.

A simple flush should have cleared everything the first time.

Tyicially when I ran into people complaing about 'metal parts' it came from the compressor actually breaking down.

I would suggest that a young vehicle, you might want to evaluate who you go to. A crapped out AC compressor, usually comes from a large AC leak, resulting in a loss in oil. So I would check, if you had no leak, then this might be a manufacturing defect. Contact Toyota, or a Toyota dealer.

Everything I wrote, is based on what I've seen/heard from other cars, I'm not looking at yours, so this is all guessing.

BTW, you made the choice to go to this service company, so to keep the warranty coverd, you have to keep doing back to them and it shouldn't cost you anything. If you are outside of the warranity, you might want to seek other's help.

Just thinking out loud,

tom