[Supras] AC finally working right

[Kofi Anim-Appiah]

>>Every time I work on a Toyota I gain more respect for the engineers. ..<<

Bob,

this was my feeling during the 14 years I owned a MkIII. I desperately hope
for the same sentiments for its replacement (a BMW 330i). After a year with
it I'm not there yet but we'll see.

Yes, the evaporator is not very difficult to remove. When I removed mine to
replace the valve (after the car's 19th birthday) I did have quite a
difficult time disconnecting the main nut on the valve. Mounting the valve
(still connected to the evaporator) in a bench vise did the trick.

- Kofi


On 5/26/07, Bob Schultz <bob_schultz at bellsouth.net> wrote:
>
> I sent this information to the MR2 List but I believe the information is
> relevant to the Supra also.
>
>
>
> Bob
>
>
>
>
>
> I just learned all kind of neat stuff the hard way with my wife's 91 Mr2.
>
>
>
> A little more than a year ago the original compressor died.  I think it
> froze up due to a lack of lubrication, it was 14 years old with a couple
> of
> recharges but no oil was added to the system.  I figure if refrigerant can
> get out of the system so can some oil ant this is probably were it went.
>
>
>
> Anyway the retrofitted system with a new compressor worked fine for about
> 3
> months then suddenly quit on a drive to Atlanta.  I assumed that I must
> have
> a leak but when I returned the system suddenly started working so I just
> ignored the problem.  It is kind of hard to diagnosis a working system but
> in hind site I should have looked deeper into it.
>
>
>
> Last month the compressor started making some noise and suddenly
> failed.  I
> checked pressures and of course there was none.  I called my supplier and
> told him of the problem and he nicely agreed to warranty the unit and
> shipped a compressor and a dryer.  Of course the compressor didn't come
> with
> o rings and after several hours on the phone I had o rings and installed
> the
> compressor.  Upon first firing up the compressor the unit made around 150
> psi on the high side and a vacuum on the low side.  Obviously the
> expansion
> valve was stuck so now I have to replace that too.
>
>
>
> Every time I work on a Toyota I gain more respect for the engineers.  The
> evaporator core can be removed by pulling the glove box, 7 screws and nuts
> and a couple of lines.
>
>
>
> Some one out there asked if the core could be cleaned without recharging
> the
> system and the answer is no.  The core on the car had a bunch of leaves
> that
> somehow got through the cowl but really for 15+ years of use the core was
> clean.  I wouldn't even consider looking at the core but I bet you could
> get
> a vacuum cleaner into the core area if you removed the glove box and the
> blower motor. but I digress.
>
>
>
> There was a recall for corrosion on the expansion valve back in 1993 and
> mine supposedly had the valve replaced but upon further reading of the
> recall the dealer could inspect the valve (how the heck they were supposed
> to do this without removing it is beyond me) and if the system worked they
> could bill out an hour, install some oil and move on.  I doubt they did
> anything but bill the hour because the expansion valve was rusted shut and
> it had a date of late 1990 on it.
>
>
>
> After a little of reflection and a New Castle or two I came up with a
> theory
> that the reman compressor was probably ok but while it was trying to
> compress the refrigerant it was pulling a vacuum on the low side and that
> was too much for the compressor to take causing the failure.
>
>
>
> I just finished the job and pressures are right were they belong and 40
> degree air is coming out of the vents.
>
>
>
> Long story short.  If you are retrofitting the system replace the
> expansion
> valve.  They are $35.00 and I was going to do it when I first did the job
> but I got lazy.  It only took an extra couple of hours to do the job
> right.
>
>
>
> Bob
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
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