A/C Lacking Oomph

TL/DR: AC is hot after time in the sun

I live in Florida and I've noticed that my AC is really crappy over time. I made a 2 hour drive around 10am. I wager the hottest it got outside along my trip was 90F. Halfway through my AC was no longer blowing cold air. At the start of the drive, I was getting nice cold air.

I've checked my R-134a, if anything it is a little on the high side (based on comparison to another 4runner). I couldn't find any specs on what it should be.

There seems to be a steady drip of water from the evaporator. Here is a video of that.

What do y'all think is going on?

 

I live in the Bahamas. I have a 2005 4runner. I had AC problems for a year. Finally took it to a professional AC shop. They replaced the compressor ($120 at Amazon I purchased) and the evaporator ($90). My AC has been blowing cold as ice for 6 months now.

Cost was $800 I bought them the parts. Was well worth the expense. The 4runner AC is a good as in a 2021 4runner now.

AC is not a job for amateur or DIYS. The evaporator is under your dashboard and is a big job. Best to leave this to professionals and bite the bullet.

 

I'm about as good with AC as I am with transmissions. To wit: NOT.

Having said that, I lived in Arizona for nearly 30 years, and there, you pick up some things. I know, for example, that if your coolant charge is low, it'll ice up the condenser, and block the air going thru it. Also, if the evaporator is clogged with dust, leaves, bugs, etc, it'll do the same thing. A blocked, or iced up, evaporator makes the air from the blower get forced past the evaporator=warm air.

If it were me, before I took it to a shop, I would make sure both the evaporator, and condenser, were clean. No need to remove them from the system, but you will need to strip down the dash to the point you can get a compressed air line into it, and blow the air backward through the evaporator. The condenser, too, although to blow air through that, you need to blow it through the radiator, so it THEN goes through the condenser. May need to pull the fan shroud to get to the entire surface area.
Not TOO high a pressure, or it'll bend the fins over, and you're as bad off as if it were clogged. Make sure it's real good and dry, before you do, too. Just leaving the truck in the sun for a few hours, this time of year, will do the job of drying everything out.
I wager you'll be amazed at what the compressed air will blow out. Leaves, dust by the pound, bugs, feathers, you name it.

OR, take it to an AC shop, and let them sweat the load. Literally!

Good luck to you...
Pat☺

 

Usually it's not a bad compressor. A bad compressor usually brings the whole system to a halt immediately.

But Evaporator/Condensor/Coolant Level are all big culprits.

There is also an AC Expansion valve that goes bad often and makes the system weak.

After checking for cleanliness as above, I'd probably side on the AC Expansion valve.

 

https://www.4runners.com/threads/ac-compressor.19959/