Rear Air Conditioning

[Ifty]

Hi Guys

Last year I topped up the Aircon system in my LS430 as it was not blowing cold air. The Aircon place put in some leak detector aswell.

About 3 days or so later it stopped blowing cold air so it went back to the Aircon shop who checked for the leak free of charge as I had payed extra to have the leak detector put. A few hours later he came back with no luck and said he can't find it.

So on my 120k service I got Lexus to do it. Lucky for me we agreed a price before hand as they thought it would be the front pipes o rings or something. Well you guessed it about 3 hours later (£90 plus Vat per hour I think) they found it was coming from the rear air con pipes behind the petrol tank. They wanted £900 plus VAT for the job.

I told them that the car had the rear Aircon pipes done from Lexus Chester a month before I purchased it and its only been 18 months.

Well any way I thought I get my Local Mechanic to put the O rings in it as the Labour is cheap and I don't think the pipes are leaking as they still look very good. I called Lexus Bham and they told me the car has no O rings in the back. The rear pipes attach to another pipe which is £70 plus vat approx which connects to the rear heating system. I think it could be this pipe that perished.

Any of you guys had this issue with the Aircon as this is the only thing wrong with the car.

Regards

Ifty

[cruisermark]

_hi

_{have a read here:}

_{http://www.lexusownersclub.co.uk/forum/topic/81388-yay-i-have-my-ac-compressor-off/}

_{There is really only 2 options if you want a working AC}

_{1) get lexus to do it.}

_{2) Buy the part from lexus and get your own mechanic to do it}

_{or if you can do without it then get the pipe capped and go without rear aircon}

_{this is a common problem and you hear more about it as the ls430s get older}

[cruisermark]

forgot to metion there is aircon pipe on that auction site - genuine part aswell

[mikesands]

_hi

_{have a read here:}

_{http://www.lexusownersclub.co.uk/forum/topic/81388-yay-i-have-my-ac-compressor-off/}

_{There is really only 2 options if you want a working AC}

_{1) get lexus to do it.}

_{2) Buy the part from lexus and get your own mechanic to do it}

_{or if you can do without it then get the pipe capped and go without rear aircon}

_{this is a common problem and you hear more about it as the ls430s get older}

yeah - I had the same problem. An aircon specialist capped off the rear pipes and never had a problem since - shame about not being able to use the fridge though

Mike

[Ifty]

Thanks guys

Mike does capping the rear Aircon pipes still give ice old Aircon to all the interior as I too don't use the rear fridge. How much did it cost you.

Ifty

[ipwn]

I chopped the ends off the rear pipe, welded the holes, then screwed them onto the pipe going to the front and only have front AC and normal fans for the back.

It's perfectly fine, old LS430s only came with front AC anyway.

Just remember to put in 650g of gas not 950.

[mikesands]

Thanks guys

Mike does capping the rear Aircon pipes still give ice old Aircon to all the interior as I too don't use the rear fridge. How much did it cost you.

Ifty

I think virtually nowt. The aircon specialist company was a bit emabraased that they hadn't spotted the leak when they recharged the AC, so when I took it back they traced it, suggested capping off the back, and refilled it again for free (but if they charged me it was only £20 or so).

Mike

[ipwn]

What did they use to cap it off?

[mikesands]

dunno sorry, but these are the people who did it, and I see you are in Yorkshire. http://www.thflory.co.uk/

Mike

[Dom175]

I have found the same issues, no rear aircon!

Do you know how much this will cost to fix and also do you know exactly what fails?

thank you so much and I love the forum, keep up the good work!

BW

Dom

[cruisermark]

hi

dom the problem are the rear aircon pipes under the car which start leaking resulting in the AC not working

[messi]

Yes this is a very common problem on the ls430, a friend of mine had this problem and had to have the whole rear aircon overhauled. Cost him abit, so he sold the car and bought an ls400

[Dom175]

Thanks for the help. Decided it all works well and I don't really need the rear air on. Fans all operate well.

Lovely car except for a couple of niggles....

[tonyflynn1]

Can I confirm that capping off the rear A/C pipes affects JUST the fridge OR the fridge AND the rear vents?