LexLuthr

Since I have had my vehicle, the A/C has not worked. The entire system was vacuumed and the refrig coolant was refilled.

What happens is when I pushed the A/C button inside the car, the AC will cycle on, blowing cool, then after 4-5 seconds the AC will cycle off on it's own. The AC button will flash and the system will blow warmer air.

I am assuming the coolant system is fine, but is there is a relay?? or some function of the controller not functioning properly. Or possibly after the AC cycles on the compressor has a pressure sensor fault and shuts off the AC?

I don't really know and before I take the car to the dealership I figured I would asked if anybody else has had this issue? And if so, what was the root cause?

Thanks,

mrblister

R u the original owner ? If so and there is no other history of this you will for sure need to take it to lexus. I saw your car is a 2002. If you were not original owner try and get the service records and see if this is a recurring problem.It could be a lot of reasons why its malfuncioning. Lexus should be able to find the one reason with out much fuss. Of course there parts and labor will blow you away Good luck let us klnow how you make out

Buddy

LexLuthr

Thanks for the reply. No I am not the original owner but I have already obtained service records. There is no history of AC issues.

I checked the owner manual online and it states that a blinking AC button would be a symptom of a compressor issue.

Looks like it's to the dealership I go. The car is in storage probably until April 2009. I was hoping to a find a simple fix before the warmer season but I will update after I visit the dealership in April.

Thanks again.

mrblister

If luck is with you maybe its just a low freon caused by a small leak. Hope for the best.
If it turns out that it is a compressor I have seen them adv on ebay remanufactured for around 175.00 to 250.00 alot less then what lexus will want,

Buddy

thang tran

LEXLUTHR
I can give you some Tips to check your A/C before bringing your car to dealer .
Open your hook , you see the top portion of A/C compressor carries the belt names A/C compressor clutch , it turns when compressor's running.
Now start your engine , hit A/C Auto button , low Temp button to COLD and step out , look at the clutch:
1/ If it turns , compressor's running , touch the metal part of the hose comes from compressor
- If it's cold , compress's working fine .
- If it's not , no or low freon
2/ If it does not , ask someone get in car and accelerate gas pedal up to about 3000 RPM :
- If it turns , clutch worn out or slipy ( usually after engine cleaning , oil gets in clutch)
- If it does not , no power to compressor
3/ If it turns on/off every short time , touch the body of compressor :
- If it's hot , freon lines stuck somewhere , pressure goes up and RE LAY on to protect compressor from burnt out
- If it's warm or normal temperature , vent air not go thrugh ( for exemple cabin air filter clogged) coil gets colder and temp sensor reads wrong information , heat's on ( A/C button light blinks)
That something I learned from my previous 1997 LS 400 . I hope it helps . Good luck .

Pearlpower

iTrader: (2)

If you do a search you should be able to pull up the diagnostic code for your A/C by running the built in trouble shooter.

LexLuthr

Wow,

Thanks for all the info, I will give it a shot. I will update board when I get a chance to troubleshoot.

Take care and thanks again.

pvong713

Having the same issue has anybody ever figured out the problem with the AC Light blinking. My ac was working before now it doesn't work anymore just blinking light the fan blows hot air.

kjcole

Did you run through the quick diagnostics listed above? That's a good start: i.e., is the compressor clutch pulling in when you turn on the AC? (if the compressor isn't turning start there because the clutch could be shot, the controller might not be sending the voltage to kick in the clutch - could be a magnetic clutch relay, etc) If it is, is the refrigerant line getting cold? (if it isn't, have someone put some gauges on and check for pressures or look for bubbles in the sight glass, or the compressor is shot, or other parts of the compression/expansion cycle for the refrigerant).

I don't know the diagnostic significance of the AC light blinking - but clearly a fault is being discovered by the control system (magnetic clutch relay? - should be in the big fuse block under the hood?)

pvong713

On the SC430 is the magnetic clutch relay listed as AC COMP that's what I see and it's right next to the horn.

kjcole

that sounds right

MongooseB

I may be typical of a lot of ClubLexus "users" i.e someone who knows nothing about car stuff but who comes on here looking for solutions from those who do.
After my 2002 SC430 A/C starting blowing nothing but "air" i.e neither hot or cold, I came on here looking for a fix. Between one thread and another I narrowed it down to the A/C magnetic clutch relay, and then decided to use JustAnswer.com. This website came up on a ClubLexus thread and it seemed worth a punt.
Cut to this exchange with a Lexus expert:
http://www.justanswer.com/lexus/8vj0...g-heating.html
JustAnswer cost me $27. The replacement Denso A/C relay from Amazon cost $12. Total cost: $39. The best I could get locally was a Lexus specialist who would charge $65 just to diagnose issue.
I would never have made all this happen without ClubLexus so wanted to share solution.
One minor titbit- if you are having issues with your SC430 A/C relay, its the same part as the Horn relay next to it. Switch them over for a quick test, which is what I did before ordering new relay.
Hope this helps someone.
Please don't ask me any technical questions about any of this; I'm an idiot.
Thanks to ClubLexus for being there for people like me.

Harold57

LOL, good write up MongooseB and useful information also. Thanks.

RZPhyxit

I am in the "know nothing about cars" realm.... I am the original owner of my 2002 SC430, currently with 95K miles and only driven 3000/yr now. In the summer of 2017, I felt the AC was not cooling enough while driving through 108 deg Palm Desert temps. While is 90 deg S.Calif weather it only seemed to cool mildly, not great enough for comfort.
There is no "blinking" light. Air does come out immediately when pressing the AC button.
I just took it to my non-dealer Private Mechanic of 20 years.... Says it has plenty of freon, but needs both a New Compressor and Condenser at $1600.00.
Could this really be for a car with such low mileage and single owner?
What "small" diagnoses/tests and fixes could I get by with? Other than use the top down as my only AC
Much appreciation to this forum. I will click on the exchange of Just answer you referred to.

DshngDaryl

So from his diagnosis, it sounds like he thinks the compressor went bad and kind of "exploded" internally. That sent little bits of compressor into the system and in the condenser (which looks like a radiator and is in front of your radiator)

The normal remedy is to replace the compressor, the condenser and the drier & vacuum down the system. Now the real question is, did your compressor really go bad?

Do you find you meet these three criteria? https://www.yourmechanic.com/article...-ac-compressor

Out of curiosity, out of the $1600, how much did he say was parts & how much was labor?