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My wife just returned home from a family visit to Georgia complaining about the A/C not working in her vehicle since the weather warmed up here in the southeast. I remember reading this thread back in late 2019 and making a note about it in my Lexus service records folder, and I managed to find this thread fairly quickly as a result. Because my iCarsoft Toyota/Lexus scanner pulled the code B1479 a few minutes ago, I plan to try the magnet trick. Can someone who has already done this trick explain exactly where this "flow meter" is located so I can properly place the magnet? I assume it is somewhere on the compressor and must be accessed from underneath the vehicle -- is that correct?
I have a 2013 RX 350, can the ac Flow sensor be accessed from under the hood? How is it oriented from the AC flow valve... which sits closer to top of compressor. Thank you
^^ I saw post #114 earlier this afternoon and while it certainly helps with flow sensor orientation on the compressor, it does not describe how to get to the compressor and then its flow valve on an RX350. Post #114 appears to be from a Camry and from a Youtube video I watched an hour or so ago on a different Camry, getting to that spot on a Camry is considerably easier than getting to that spot on an RX350. On the Camry, the guy just reached right down in the front of the engine bay. I see no way to do that on my wife's RX350 so before I jack up the front end and crawl under it, I sure would like to know exactly what to look for.
Post 142 describes going through the splash guard, which I assume means fender well. Post 81 describes a sienna, but I think there’s a ouch difference that it won’t be accessible from the engine bay top.
^^ You are correct. You indeed peel back the lower black plastic splash guard underneath the front bumper (not the wheel well) in order to expose the front of the compressor. That splash guard is held in place by a combination of 10mm bolts and the stupid black plastic push-pin fasteners that I detest.
I did not need to do the magic magnet-on-the-A/C-compressor-flow-sensor trick after all. Turns out the problem was due to clogged front sunroof drains which caused rainwater to run down the drivers-side A-pillar, collect underneath the drivers floorboard carpet, and get the ECM wet in the process. The ECM then panicked, threw spurious OBDII codes (including B1479), and apparently shut off the A/C by not allowing the compressor to function. Thoroughly drying out the drivers floorboard carpet and up underneath that side of the dashboard by running an industrial-strength canine hair dryer for about 4 hours cleared all the spurious OBDII codes and dashboard warning lights and messages. Once all codes and warning lights cleared, the A/C system began functioning normally again.
Seems it's the sensor issue. Try the magnet fix.... It's easy enough.
Place a piece of neodymium magnet on the sensor; polarity matters.
AC works ever after.
This is an amazing fix! Thank you for sharing and saving many people hundreds / thousands of dollars for unneeded repair work!
For clarity I've marked the spot on another picture (below) as it was not 100% clear to me based on placement in the 2015 RX350. As other posters have mentioned you just need to drop the front underside panel, then you can reach the site from below. You won't be able to see the spot where the magnet needs to go but you can feel it. So far it's working for me. Really amazing - thank you! Location of the sensor where you place the magnet.
Originally Posted by tn7con Could you help me with the amplifier I really don't understand much of this if you could give me more details how I connect the amplifier or if you sell it. Thank you very much for your prompt response. Summer is near and I don't have air conditioning. 😩
Could you help me with the amplifier I really don't understand much of this if you could give me more details how I connect the amplifier or if you sell it. Thank you very much for your prompt response.
Summer is near and I don't have air conditioning. 😩
[img
https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.clublexus.com-vbulletin/1440x803/screenshot_20230507_224814_chrome_92b3b456f4a092cdbf7adb72cf8a8e882cfd0527.jpg[/img]
;9869868]Just rigged up an AC flow sensor boost circuit using IC 741 op amp (instead of LM321 op amp), bench tested it, corrected one mistake, then installed in my 10RX .... works great, my AC system is cooling again ....
Here is my experience:
- The hardest part was to install the TechStream sw on to my 64-bit Win7 laptop, search Youtube for complete instruction ...
- In my 10RX, the AC amplifier is located to the right of the cabin air filter (located behind a door in the back of the glove compartment) ... and I could easily unplug the big F50 connector, locate the 3 wires needed to feed to my booster circuit ... a picture is worth a thousand words, so here are some pictures
- took about 20 mins to build the booster circuit, 10 mins to install it in my 10RX .... 30 mins total, saving about $2000 ... best feeling ever
Could you help me with the amplifier I really don't understand much of this if you could give me more details how I connect the amplifier or if you sell it. Thank you very much for your prompt response.
Summer is near and I don't have air conditioning. 😩
Hello, new member here. I can confirm the easy fix is to buy a small container of round neodymium magnets. Go to Michaels or any hobby/amazon. The ones I used are 1/4 diameter. I used 4 and stacked them and then placed them on the left side(facing the serp belt) on top of the flow sensor. They are strong enough to stay in place. And if they do fall from road bumps, they won't damage anything because they will stick to the first piece of metal they come in contact with.
My compressor stopped working today. The first thing I did was check the clutch relay under the brake fluid reservoir. Swapped it, no change. Swapped it back and reassembled.
Then I got the laptop and found code B1479 flow sensor code. Great, what the heck is a flow sensor.
Eventually I stumbled onto this forum and saw a post from OjeG and he posted this picture:
You notice the magnet is on the left side facing the serp belt. Anyways there you have it.
I also found others who did this repair and also bought a new sensor just incase. They still have the new sensor. The magnet repair works.
This post is a gem! So far so good on a 2010 RX350 I tried it on w/ a small circular neo magnet. Had a B1479 and occasional AC (mostly worked on the highway only). Be prepared to have some of the splash shield metal bolts snap on you if you live in a rusty climate. Their size is M6 x 1.0 and they can be drilled out and tapped pretty easily.
This is an amazing fix! Thank you for sharing and saving many people hundreds / thousands of dollars for unneeded repair work!
For clarity I've marked the spot on another picture (below) as it was not 100% clear to me based on placement in the 2015 RX350. As other posters have mentioned you just need to drop the front underside panel, then you can reach the site from below. You won't be able to see the spot where the magnet needs to go but you can feel it. So far it's working for me. Really amazing - thank you! Location of the sensor where you place the magnet.
Update: Still working like a charm almost 3 months later, staying nice and cool in the summer heat!
I have zero experience working on cars, and I was able to fix my A/C with the magnet trick in less than 20 minutes by following all of the pictures and advice here. Thank you all so much! I was close to canceling our family vacation to be able to afford a new compressor. I don't know how y'all figured out this trick, but I owe you! I'd send you baked goods if I could.
For any other non-mechanically inclined folks, you don't really need any special equipment. There is even enough clearance on the RX350 that you don't need to put it up on jacks. On the 2011, the compressor was toward the passenger side, and I could see the black sensor piece, but like 053XRsuxeL said, you won't be able to see exactly where it sits or where to place the magnet, but you can feel it. If it doesn't work the first time, flip your magnet. It is absolutely worth trying before you go in for a bunch of expensive work.
03-27-23, 01:27 PM
Update: July 2023
