LX470 and Land Cruiser air conditioning blows warm air

The 1997-2007 Toyota Land Cruiser and Lexus LX470 both suffer from a common air conditioning failure – a leak from the rear A/C liquid line just behind the passenger’s front tire. The bracket and insulation designed to protect the tubing from road debris holds moisture against the aluminum, the lines eventually corroding through and leaking out all the freon. Then the A/C stops working.  The leak in question:

LX470 AC line leak

The wetness in the above photo is the compressor oil leaking out from the corroded line.  This photo is from just behind the passenger wheel well where the frame bolts to the body.  Here’s the line in a diagram with the problem area highlighted:

AC Line Diagram

The bend the line takes to the right of the highlighted area goes between the body and the frame – a tight squeeze.  Here’s the line removed with pins stuck into the holes corroded into the line (these holes were there before and the cause of the problem):

Corroded Line

The repair is to replace the line and clean the brackets in the area, both o-rings on the line, replace the A/C dryer and recharge the system with new oil and freon.  To help prevent the condition from reoccuring, CARspec anti-seizes the entire area that is the root cause of the failure:

Coated new line

And then wraps the entire area in electrical tape:

Taped new line

This helps prevent moisture from sitting up against this part of the line and slows the corrosion.  It is very common for an LX470 or Land Cruiser to go through 3-4 of these lines in its lifetime here in Minnesota if the new line is installed without some sort of protective coating or tape applied to this area.  This particular 2006 Land Cruiser had already had this line replaced 2 years prior before coming to CARspec.  When reinstalling the line you need to add a spacer to the bracket due to the larger diameter of the line due to the tape/coating.

As Eden Prairie and Chanhassen’s Toyota and Lexus specialist, CARspec is happy to offer replacement of this line for significantly cheaper than the local dealers (some of which are charging upwards of $1500).  If your A/C isn’t working give us a call today!