2003 Other Toyota Models A/C not quite right

SOCRMOM

MEMBER
2003 TOYOTA
4 CYL
FWD
AUTOMATIC
73,000 MILES

I have a 2003 Toyota Marix with 73,000 miles on it. My A/C has been working fine until yesterday. I noticed while driving the cabin air started to smell moist (like when you can smell the rain in the air) and the A/C air was getting a little warmer so I shut off the A/C and opened the windows. A bit down the road I thought I'd turn it back on and see what happens. It was running cool again but about 10 minutes later it was warm again. After I got home my husband took a look at it and changed the cabin a/c filter. It was pretty dirty and covered with leaves. It ran cold the rest of the evening. This afternoon it ran cold for a good long while - all during my first round of errands (1 hour or so). My husband also checked the refrigerant level and it indicated that it was good. But later this afternoon when we went out it ran cold for about 10-15 minutes and went warm again. This time we left the air on pulled over and tested the refrigerant again. This time it was in the RED zone! Any thoughts on what the issue could be before we take it in. If it's something simple he can probably fix it.

3 Replies

KHLOW2008

MECHANIC
41,814 POSTS

Hi socrmom,

Looks like the AC system is due for servicing, most probably the evaporator cooling fins are clogged.

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Wednesday, August 20th, 2008 AT 8:29 AM

SOCRMOM

MEMBER
3 POSTS

Thanks for the reply. We continued to research the problem and found that although Toyota did not issue a recall but shops and service departments were notified. There seems to be a problem with the magnetic clutch compressor relay inside the fuse box under the hood. It appears it has a tendency to burn out. So, we ordered it Monday morning got it Tuesday evening, put it in and I've been running cold ever since! Good luck to others who have this similar problem. I knew it couldn't be a leak b/c I was still getting cold air blowing as long as the a/c hadn't been on for an extended length of time and if I let it rest it would go cold again. Weird and never heard of this problem but glad it was a $30 fix!