A guest recently had CARspec provide a second opinion on a 2005 Toyota 4Runner. The vehicle had been at the local dealership for multiple repair attempts to the air conditioning. The owner brought the vehicle to CARspec, being a Toyota specialist, after he lost faith in the dealership’s latest repair.
The symptoms were straightforward: warm air from the vent on hot days, cold air once the temps dropped a bit, and bubbles in the sight glass for the system. All point to a leak of the refrigerant that the local dealer assured the owner wasn’t the cause of the problem. Lo and behold, a puncture in the back side of the air conditioning condenser was to blame.
Here’s the front of the condenser:
4Runner Condenser
The dealership had previously added dye to the system hoping to spot leaks more easily (UV dye glows under UV light), but found no evidence of dye. Here’s the back of the condenser, with the leak/oil residue highlighted. It is exceptionally subtle, but would glow under a UV light slightly:
4Runner condenser back
Note on the above the lighter spot in the center of the oil spot. CARspec uses a mild solvent (brake clean and the like) to mildy clean the suspected component to help concentrate the dye, the light spots over the condenser the result of this mild cleaning. By allowing the solvent to slightly pool, a UV dye will concentrate at the nearest low point (in this case pool between the fins around the leak) and make the UV dye more obvious. This was how the above was spotted.
The condenser was replaced, the system recharged and is now fully repaired.
If you’ve got a failing Toyota air conditioning system and are in the Minneapolis, Minnesota area don’t hesitate to give us a ring at (952)426-4798 today for an appointment!
