Since no one on the general 2g gs board seems to know anything about this im going to try in here. If you are a mechanic chime in as well.

I need a new condesor for my A/c. I was guoted at around 550 dollars at a local a/c shop. the price on the condensor was only 179.99 and that is a very fair price being autozone is 169.99. The rest is labor and some o rings. now the o rings are around 7 dollars. that is 364 dollars for labor and recharge. recharge is around 70 dollars. Now i have seen how little work is involved in taking it off and doesnt seem like 300 dollars of labor. let me know if someone has had this done before and if so how much or if this seems like a fair price.

 

honestly, sounds reasonably fair to me... not that much work? you have to pull the radiator, radiator fans, etc...

I have a question though - why are they replacing the condenser? If it is because it has a leak and has been leaking, then they should be replacing the receiver/drier as well... do we know if that is included?

I don't have access to Mitchell right this second, but I imagine its 3 hours worth of labor to remove and replace the condenser... 3 hours at $80-$100 an hour and we're in the ballpark...

The one thing that worries me is that I don't see you having listed a receiver/drier. If the system has been out of service at all, then I would recommend replacing that as well...

 

Fair price for me too, the receiver and dyer is part of the condenser. You have to remove the condenser to replace the dyer bag. Lexus called it the " Sub cool dyer", instead replacing a complete receiver and dyer unit, you just replace the bag, but the condenser has to come out. It's like the new oil filter(for Lexus) that you just replace the filter not the housing.

This job may look easy, but you don't know until you really have to do it by yourself.

 

Ya know I've never in the past two years, had to do A/C work on a Lexus... Not that they don't fail, but the percentage is definitely much smaller than most other vehicles... Good info about the drier... never paid attention

 

Whaddya know, just got access to Mitchell (its on a remote computer I can only use after business hours)...

2.9 hours labor to R/R condenser - does not include recover/evac/recharge

2.9 hours times $80 / hour = $232, 2.9 hours times $100 / hour = $290

so, between $232 and $290 is what I would expect to pay labor wise...

 

FYI, from 1998 GS, LS, and LX the drier build into the condenser. After those year models and all the newer models are the same. The 2004 LS and up has the compressor and clutch as one unit. If you have to quote the labor late on one of them make sure you including R&R condenser on those cars.

The evaporator /expansion valve job on the dual AC system( driver and passenger) involve in remove the complete dash to do the job+ drain the coolant to remove the heater core.

 

ok sounds fair then if mitchell says 2.9 hours. An what happened is there is a hole about the size of my pinky in the condensor, so i assume something hit it. This quote is including evac and recharge freon. that is everything hopefully. He said that after they did that there could still be a bad compressor being it wouldnt hold vacumm he couldnt tell if anything else was bad. I hope that is all it is.

 

as for the taking fans and radiator out the service manual from toyota's online thing says to just remove air filter, upper radiator support and lean radiator back so that you can unbolt and remove condensor. no reason to pull radiator or fans.

here is pdf for it.

 

ok i have another question. I thought of just R/R condensor myself and just take to shop and have them do the evac and refill deal. What do you all think of that? I usually do all my one work on my cars, but im new to A/c and dont have all the tools to fill and stuff. What all should I make sure they do when they refill or if they replace it for me?

 

keep in mind I've never done this on a GS, but on almost every other car, thats what they tell ya, but real world is, it's easier to pull the radiator than to work the condenser in and out of a tight space... but, everyone has their own preferences... at any rate, when it is done, I would make sure the drier filter/element is replaced and not swapped from one to the other, and also that compressor oil is added to the system prior to recharge...

99 times out of 100 if there is just a hole in the condenser, then replacing it will fix the issue - they are covering their asses in case there is another problem they can't see right this second...

 

i understand and thanks for the info. I beleive that the condensor comes with new drier filter. Someone chime in and let me know if this is correct.

and as for the compressor oil. I was told that you drain compressor oil so u know how much to put back in. the place that quoted me this price is strictly a auto a/c shop, so i would think that they know what there doing

 

sounds like they are doing it right... the only way to know about the drier filter would be to ask, but I am fairly confident it comes with new...