So I put my 92 sc4 in the shop because the a/c wasn't blowing cold.. as it turns out, the condensor, compressor, and Manifold hose all have their own leak.. The repair estimate was about 2200 dollars.. The guy looks like he's only going to charge abit more than 400 dollars for labor.. but wow, those parts are expensive, and I just don't have the money right now. I'm honestly thinking about just selling the car, but I would hate to have to part with my SC4, it really is a neat car. I really doubt that I would be able to do these repairs myself, especially since the sc4 uses the r12 freon that I can't even get ahold of, much less half the tools needed to do the job. I guess I'm going to sit around houston and sulk in my hot car, haha.
Do you think that 2200 is a good price for the ac repair, or it should be higher/lower..
Any input would be appreciated, as well as personal experience with a/c problems in the SC.

 

I think $220 is a good price......... for COMPRESSOR, then add $200 for any possible needed hoses, and DIY since there is a DIY write up on this exact subject.

There is no way they are all leaking.

 

get your own parts from parted out vehicles, or use JB Weld... lol, it sounds ghetto, but it works

 

Hey, thanks for the reply!
Wow, the part price for the compressor listed was at 665.40 dollars from the repair shop.
Here's a little more background on the problem. I purchased this car in June of 2005. The ac worked fine throughout the summer, and started to blow hot air around september.. since it was winter, I chose not to bother messing with it, and put it off until this last week. So, there shouldn't be three leaks.. I agree, there's no reason for them to all develop over a short time, but is it conceivable for them to have developed while the previous owner had the car, and he just charged it to sell it to me, because the cost to fix it all was too high? Perhaps, but probably still unlikely. Why do you think its just the Compressor, and not any of the other parts? I wish I knew more about the system, and how to determine for myself which components are actually leaking. Thanks again for the help.

 

simply drive to MAXI muffler or somewhere similar and tell them to pump the system with DYE.

 

Wonder why this is in the Forced Induction section.

 

Dealer Quote = Rip.....my compressor went out, dealer quoted 1250 for repairs...so i was like....ummm no. Ordered a remanufactured Compressor from ebay and we switched them out at home, took around maybe 2 hours tops.

 

if your car has r12 then you will have to end up switching to r134a, its easy and cheap you can get a kit from any parts store. if that quote was for r12 replacement id believe it, that stuff is outrageous, but i doubt it since its illegal now.

 

Thanks again for all the information, I'm starting to feel alot better about all of this.

wow, that's a great idea, I would have never known that this was an option.. I wonder why the guy at the shop I went to didn't do that..

 

Cause he wanted to get the most out of it, cmon you shouldve known that....

 

people see a lexus and try to stick it to ya...

 

This is a perfect case for the R12 to R134a freon change. As your aware, you (and I) live in desert areas where rubber components and plastic seals dry rot and crack. ....we don't have road salt, but many rocks and stones to puncture the condensor..

A remanufactured Denso (toyota) compressor and clutch, belt, condensor, full hose replacement, thermostatic expansion valve, receiver-drier, evacuation labor, compressor oil add, and recharge with R134a. This leaves the original fan housing (plenum) and evaporator.

Price the A/C speciality shops in your area. You should be able to do better than the $2200 quoted.

And in Texas, a warranty is good...

> The recommended standard is to run the your auto air condictioner ten minutes per month, every month of the year.
This moves the lubricant throughout the system and keeps the seals soft and valves operating properly.

 

it's a 1 to millions chance to have all those (listed) to fail at the same time. So you're either a unlucky guy, or the shop ...
Keep us updated.

 

i just got myself a remanufactured A/C compressor w/ warrenty off ebay for $250 including shipping, thats after a local shop qouted me $900 and autozone $650.

 

Wow, didn't know that, thanks for the info.
Well, its been about a week since the shop recharged the system, it's still blowing pretty cool, im hoping this will last long enough for me to do some of the things suggested, such as pumping the system with dye, and price some parts myself. So, I'm hearing most of you telling me to go ahead and have the system converted to 134a.. if it turns out that all three of those parts are leaking as the shop stated, then it probably would make sense to go ahead and switch it over since it will likely cos tabout the same. But if I find that its just the compressor like OLT seems to think it is, then I'll be putting my car under the knife myself to fix that little problem. Thanks again for everyone's input, I really do appreciate it.