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I doubt your ac is low on freon, agree diagnostic fee is rediculous, especially since they can diagnose a faulty servo motor in minutes with techstream.
Yeah - i just spoke to my personal mechanic and he will check the freon/pressure for me before i go to the dealership to potentially avoid the upcharge. He said the dealers are such a rip off because it will take all of 5minutes: Hook up a cable, read the output/codes and confirm it matches the issue.
Service advisor got back to me and said the following:
"Here is what we need to do. We are going to have to diagnose the issue before we can proceed. We need to confirm that the issue is the servo motor or it may be something else, Like the vehicle is low on freon. This is the process I have to do. There is a diagnostic fee of $168. If we diagnose the problem and it does need the servo motor as per the bulletin then the fee gets waived. Let me know a day you think you may be available."
I'm bringing it to them this weekend hoping that the problem is actually the servo motors and its all done free of charge. I have no remaining warranties left on my GS so i'm stuck potentially paying the ridiculously overpriced diagnostic fee if it turns out the servo's are not the problem.
AJLex19 - A couple of questions and some comments.
What makes you think you have a problem with one or more A/C servos? That's the question that really needs to be answered.
(1) Do you have one or more vents that are supposed to have airflow based on either heating or cooling that do not provide airflow? That is the best determination of whether an A/C servo is inoperable, or not.
(2) Do you hear [what you believe might be] a crunching or clicking noise likely coming from one or more servos? If so, when did you last hear such noise? Are you still hearing such noise? If so, how often?
(3) How sure are you (100%, 50%, 25%) that you have a problem with your vehicle's A/C system's servos or vent airflow?
Your Lexus dealership is taking the stand that a diagnosis is required [first] to determine if one or more servos are faulty and need to be replaced...instead of using a customer complaint that the A/C system is not performing correctly to run a diagnostic test at no-charge to see if the complaint pertains to the 'known servo problem' related to the Lexus Support Program. The dealership's position seems reasonable IF a problem cannot otherwise somehow be determined easily and quickly. (For example, if the Support Program applied to a speedometer that fails to work - no diagnostic fee would be needed to determine its failure.) Keep in mind that some [probably rather small] percentage of owners (all owners having received the notice from Lexus) will want their vehicle checked to see if the Lexus Support Program applies to their vehicle, so the diagnosis could be considered a reasonable bar to separate owners that truly have some type of A/C problem from those that don't have a problem but just want their vehicle checked.
You could always call Lexus Headquarters again to ask if this diagnostic fee (even though it is waived if a servo problem is found) is standard procedure even though it should be easily determined without such a test...which again falls back on you - how sure your belief is whether your A/C system has an vent airflow problem and/or a noise that appears to be coming from an A/C servo.
Yeah - i just spoke to my personal mechanic and he will check the freon/pressure for me before i go to the dealership to potentially avoid the upcharge. He said the dealers are such a rip off because it will take all of 5minutes: Hook up a cable, read the output/codes and confirm it matches the issue.
Low refrigerant is not going to cause servo noise or vent airflow problems.
I'm not sure how a diagnostic fee that is waived if a problem is found and fixed at no-charge is considered a ripoff.
If you are sure there is a A/C vent airflow problem and/or have experienced servo related noise I don't understand why you are concerned about the diagnostic fee.
@bclexus I certainly understand that the dealership is just protecting themselves from doing work for free if it turns out that the problem is not the servo motor/campaign. I was just commenting generally that the high cost of the diagnostic is ridiculous - its no more than 5-10min of work to see what error codes are being output and determining if those codes match the servo support program.
I believe I have the AC problem because I recently changed my battery and I saw a few threads of other owners indicating that they had a problem with their A/C after changing their battery. None of the air flow coming out of any vents feels cold - it feels "cool" even at the "LO" setting and full motor/speed. During an 80 degree day a few weeks ago (after the battery change), the AC just wasn't getting cold on any combination of settings (LO, high fan speed, low fan speed, different directions, etc) even after driving on the highway for 15min.
The next day, I disconnected my battery for 10min, reconnected and tried to see if that would reset the motors/system since I don't have access to Techstream. That did not fix the issue unfortunately.
My personal mechanic is just doing me a favor to confirm if there is a possibility that its not the servo motors (e.g. if there is a leak by checking the pressure) to save me from wasting time / money for the dealership to potentially tell me the same thing.
@bclexus I certainly understand that the dealership is just protecting themselves from doing work for free if it turns out that the problem is not the servo motor/campaign. I was just commenting generally that the high cost of the diagnostic is ridiculous - its no more than 5-10min of work to see what error codes are being output and determining if those codes match the servo support program.
I believe I have the AC problem because I recently changed my battery and I saw a few threads of other owners indicating that they had a problem with their A/C after changing their battery. None of the air flow coming out of any vents feels cold - it feels "cool" even at the "LO" setting and full motor/speed. During an 80 degree day a few weeks ago (after the battery change), the AC just wasn't getting cold on any combination of settings (LO, high fan speed, low fan speed, different directions, etc) even after driving on the highway for 15min.
The next day, I disconnected my battery for 10min, reconnected and tried to see if that would reset the motors/system since I don't have access to Techstream. That did not fix the issue unfortunately.
My personal mechanic is just doing me a favor to confirm if there is a possibility that its not the servo motors (e.g. if there is a leak by checking the pressure) to save me from wasting time / money for the dealership to potentially tell me the same thing.
I understand what you're saying. Please answer the individual questions below to help better understand your particular situation.
(1) Do you have one or more vents that are supposed to have airflow during heating or cooling (i.e. airflow from floor vents for heating and airflow from dash front-facing vents for cooling) that do not provide airflow now? (That is the absolute best and easiest determination of whether an A/C servo is inoperable, or not.) (2) Have you ever heard [what you believe might be] a crunching or clicking noise likely coming from one or more servos? If so, when did you last hear such noise? Are you still hearing such noise, and if so how often?
(3) Was your A/C system's cooling ability performing differently prior to you replacing the battery? In other words, was the A/C performing as it is supposed to perform prior to replacing the battery?
(4) Was your A/C system's vent airflow performing differently prior to you replacing the battery?
Based on your responses to the above questions the possibility that you have a servo problem might change from what was thought to be a near certainty to something far less.
I understand what you're saying. Please answer the individual questions below to help better understand your particular situation.
(1) Do you have one or more vents that are supposed to have airflow during heating or cooling (i.e. airflow from floor vents for heating and airflow from dash front-facing vents for cooling) that do not provide airflow now? (That is the absolute best and easiest determination of whether an A/C servo is inoperable, or not.) (2) Have you ever heard [what you believe might be] a crunching or clicking noise likely coming from one or more servos? If so, when did you last hear such noise? Are you still hearing such noise, and if so how often?
(3) Was your A/C system's cooling ability performing differently prior to you replacing the battery? In other words, was the A/C performing as it is supposed to perform prior to replacing the battery?
(4) Was your A/C system's vent airflow performing differently prior to you replacing the battery?
Based on your responses to the above questions the possibility that you have a servo problem might change from what was thought to be a near certainty to something far less.
1 - All vents provide airflow. Heat settings work well. Turning "A/C On" and setting the temperature to a low value, or to "LO" does have all vents blowing "cool" but not "cold" air. "Cool" air comes out at fan speed of min and at a fan speed of "Max"
2 - I have not heard any crunching or clicking noises. I have listened for such noises when pressing the START button to "ON" without cranking the engine as well as immediately after cranking.
3 - Cooling ability was performing well the last time i used A/C back in Sept 2020 prior to the fall/winter season.
4 - Vent/airflow performance was just as good.
Essentially, all permutations of fan speed, direction and temperature work to provide heat and "cool," but not cold enough A/C.
1 - All vents provide airflow. Heat settings work well. Turning "A/C On" and setting the temperature to a low value, or to "LO" does have all vents blowing "cool" but not "cold" air. "Cool" air comes out at fan speed of min and at a fan speed of "Max"
2 - I have not heard any crunching or clicking noises. I have listened for such noises when pressing the START button to "ON" without cranking the engine as well as immediately after cranking.
3 - Cooling ability was performing well the last time i used A/C back in Sept 2020 prior to the fall/winter season.
4 - Vent/airflow performance was just as good.
Essentially, all permutations of fan speed, direction and temperature work to provide heat and "cool," but not cold enough A/C.
Well, your answers tells a story that sounds like your problem is not related to the servo problems that the Lexus Support Program deals with.
Your GS 350 A/C system is quite sophisticated and has a number of very complex features. I would bet that when you changed your battery (which is when all this started) you did not turn the A/C system Off, which triggered something in the A/C system that is causing your problems. I think you just need to have the A/C system reinitialized (like rebooting a computer) to fix the problem. If I'm right, you won't have to deal with the worry of having your dash taken apart to replace servos. That should make you very happy!
I would research some local highly respected (reputable) auto A/C repair shops to see if they have the equipment to check your car's A/C system and reinitialize (reset) it if needed. I don't know how much that would cost, but likely less than the $168 diagnostic fee that checking the servos would cost you if they are found them to be working properly. You might also check with your Lexus dealership to ask them what it would cost, which likely might involve a diagnostic fee.
Over the years there have been a lot of people that have changed their own battery (or had some shop like Pep Boys, O'Reilly's, Advanced Auto, AutoZone, NAPA Auto, Costco, Walmart, etc. do it for them) that experienced all sorts of various problems - Navigation system, A/C system, Electronic Parking Brake, Mass Air Flow Sensor, radio/amplifier entertainment system, door actuators, clock, etc. Some of these problems required expensive fixes, and some even required the vehicle be towed-in to the Lexus dealership to be fixed. I would recommend to anyone to have only the Lexus dealership replace their battery for a car like the GS 350 - that is how bad it has gotten with all the delicate systems in some vehicles nowadays. The Lexus dealership has an excellent battery that fits the OEM bracket, with an excellent 84 month warranty at a very fair price. And, if something screws-up because they changed the battery - guess what? They know how to fix it, and at no-charge to the customer.
In this video you can see where the user is using a program to reinitialize his A/C system (screenshot below video). I can't understand him due to a language conflict, but you'll get the picture of what needs to be done as he resets the A/C system in a 2019 Lexus LX570.
AJLex19 - I bet you didn't turn your A/C system Off before disconnecting and replacing the battery. Sometimes not turning it Off will cause a problem. You probably didn't turn your radio Off either, but that wasn't affected - at least this time!
Try this if you want to, just on the outside chance it may reset your A/C system (hopefully it won't cause any other problem I previously mentioned to surface):
Turn Off your A/C (and the radio).
Disconnect the positive terminal of the battery.
If you have access to something that is chassis-ground within reach of the disconnected positive terminal tap the disconnected positive terminal to the ground point. If not, don't worry about it.)
Wait 15 minutes with the battery disconnected.
Reinstall the positive terminal to the battery.
Crank the engine.
Turn On the radio.
Turn On the A/C system - 'Auto' On.
Turn both driver and passenger A/C temperature down to Maximum LO.
(Blower fan should increase to maximum speed and cold air should come out of dash upper vents.)
(If you have a probe type temperature gauge check the temperature from one of the center vents - within ~10 minutes the temperature should be 37 - 45 degrees.)
See what that does (if anything) to reset your A/C system.
hmm would this cause the vents to not be strong? ever since i picked the car up (8/2020 used) i've noticed the vents are pretty weak, even full blast face only on recycle, it's not that powerful compared to our 2011 is350.
it always bugged me but i wasn't going to bring this up at the dealership since it's out of warranty. (2015)
the air feels cold, its just a weak blower is what i have
Since this was mention, I notice that setting the heater on anything above 80* still blows out cold air on either driver or passenger vents. Car is at operating temps. Could this be a servo issue?
Is this sound due to the A/C servo motor issue? Alternative hypothesis in the thread is that it’s the fan in the head unit. But with this notice I’m thinking servo.
1 - All vents provide airflow. Heat settings work well. Turning "A/C On" and setting the temperature to a low value, or to "LO" does have all vents blowing "cool" but not "cold" air. "Cool" air comes out at fan speed of min and at a fan speed of "Max"
2 - I have not heard any crunching or clicking noises. I have listened for such noises when pressing the START button to "ON" without cranking the engine as well as immediately after cranking.
3 - Cooling ability was performing well the last time i used A/C back in Sept 2020 prior to the fall/winter season.
4 - Vent/airflow performance was just as good.
Essentially, all permutations of fan speed, direction and temperature work to provide heat and "cool," but not cold enough A/C.
Is your A/C Compressor turning? I did not see if you mentioned this.
There is a known Toyota/Lexus Flow Sensor switch that will prevents it from blowing Cold air even if it has the correct Gas, It can work sometimes but not others. Or it can stop working completely. I don't know if this is your problem though?
04-19-21, 11:28 AM
Thanks All
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