I have a 1999 Lexus RX300 and my air conditioning recently broke. It still blows air but its not cold. When I turn it on, the air is warm/hot depending on how long its been in the sun. After a while, the a/c button starts to blink. It also sounds a little bit funny outside of the car when I turn the a/c on. When it first broke, the a/c used to screech everytime it was on. It only did that a few times and now it doesn't make that noise anymore. The a/c used to work but now it doesn't anymore and I'm not sure why. Any help would be greatly appreciated!!

 

It sounds similar to what happened to me several years back and unfortunately for me it was the compressor. At least at the time there was no after market compressor and several indy's could not beat the dealer price. Set me back a thousand bucks - my most expensive repair. At least the a/c has been fine and trouble free since that fix for what I would guess is somewhere between five and eight years (my RX went into service in 1998).

I would take it to a mechanic you trust and hopefully it's a cheaper fix. If it's the compressor and you don't want to pay, I suggest run the fan and load up on dry ice.

 

You can hold the auto and recirculate button down with the key off, then turn the key on (While holding the buttons still) and all the lights will activate on the control panel. this will put you in diagnostics mode, check out the attached instructions this will give you an idea of what it may be.


Troy,