2013 AC not cold - Refrigerant pressure good - Not intermittant

[shinckley08]

Looking to solve why my wife's 2013 LR4 does not blow as cold as it used to, its 104 today and it can barely keep. First thing I did was check the refrigerant pressure and that was good up. I read some posts here and elsewhere about intermittent issues caused by faulty a faulty valve but they all seemed to say it was intermittent.

I purchased some Kool It Evap cleaner that I used on my old 100 Series Landcruiser with the same issue, it resolved the problem on that vehicle. Wondering if anybody else has faced this and found a fix as well as if anybody knows where the evap drain lines are. A local shop told me to pull the triangle panels in the footwell that match up to the center console and there is a rubber fitting I have to pull from body. Apparently it cannot be done from under the vehicle and there are drains on both drivers and passenger side.


I can post if I figure out how to access the drains and if the cleaning does any good.

 

[shinckley08]

I ended up locating the drivers side drain and treated it. No real improvement. I did notice however that the driver side front vents are a little colder than the passenger. In fact the passengers side blew warm for a few minutes then slowly caught up. I don’t know if that is the result of cleaning or if if points toward another issue.

The other thing that stuck out was the drivers side drain was bone dry, making me believe the evaporator is barely getting cold. I don’t know much about AC systems however.

 

[cmb6s]

I just purchased a 2016 LR4 and am having the exact same issue. Semi-cold air blowing of driver's side on max cold, but warmer air blowing out of passenger side. Haven't had time to fiddle with it yet as I'm still working on getting the vehicle titled. Was hoping to look at some actuator and blend door values on the IID tool this weekend to see if anything wonky presents itself, but I'll admit that I haven't even checked the pressure yet.

 

[f1racer328]

You can view the evaporator temperature on the IID tool. Should be driving at a constant speed for the lowest temp, or for a slightly warmer temp, in park. Not sitting at 0 mph in drive because the viscous fan isn't spinning as fast.

I have a slightly different problem. AC works great until about 3-4 hours of driving, and then the compressor starts to cut out, cycling the AC button fixes it. I believe I have a failing compressor.

 

[Nechaken]

Cosign on checking evap temperature. On mine, I've seen the front get down to -2 C just driving around with the AC on.

Per the service guide, with AC on, temp at minimum, fan at max, recirc off, 1500 rpm for 5 minutes, center vent temp should be between -2C and -7C.

You know, the newest LR4s are ~ 7 years old. I'm wondering if you could have a tiny tiny leak - perhaps at a crimp point or even refrigerant migrating though a hose. Just a couple ounces over that time period could affect system balance etc. Not enough that it turns off completely, just enough to weaken performance.

 

[jlglr4]

Maybe check to make sure the engine cooling fan is working. One of its main jobs is to cool the ac condenser, especially in hot weather or when the car is stationary. Fan clutch failures are pretty common on these cars.

 

[shinckley08]

Maybe check to make sure the engine cooling fan is working. One of its main jobs is to cool the ac condenser, especially in hot weather or when the car is stationary. Fan clutch failures are pretty common on these cars.

Definitely did not consider the cooling system's impact on AC. Based on what I know about how to test the fan clutch everything is good with the fan. I have replaced it in the past, maybe 40k miles ago.

I had read elsewhere that the engine running hot can actually cause the ECU to scale back AC to help control the temp, but I have not seen any issues with temp even after long idle.

I was trying to determine if the AC operates better while moving based on RPMs or if its simply more air over the condenser. I guess I can hold it stationary at high revs for a few and see if it cools down.