Dear @Xulfiqar sir, Assalam u alaikum, my name is Wasil and I am from Karachi. I really need your help.
BACKGROUND AND CAR HISTORY:
I bought my car 2010 corolla gli 1.3 about 3 years ago and it worked really well, only went to get brake pads replaced once in 3 years and my running is very low so about 30km per week because we only use it for family outings otherwise my travel is mostly on bike. About 6 months ago, the cooling started becoming low and eventually there was no cooling. I took it to MS autos as per my friends recommendation who sang praises of him. Immediately after seeing the car by adding gauge to low pressure line he said that compressor is weak, you need to change it. I already informed by father that these AC mechanics always say such things and that our car has genuine compressor and just ask him to only fix the AC... basically tell him jab tak ye compressor chal raha hai chala lete hain... so he did, well, upon all inspection he said gas nai hay system mai and inspected the engine room, udhar koi leakage nai thi so he said cooling coil (evaporator) leak hai, I prayed dil mai ke wo bhe leak na ho werna 20,25k ka kharcha hoga. So, miraculously cooling coil bhe leak nai tha, expansion valve bhe he said ke theek hai and kuch bhe kharab ho to he would have told us lekn bas phr finally cooling coil ke upar rings lagte hain waha se gas leak hui thi rings wear out hogae thy i guess, he replaced the rings, oil top up in compressor, refilled and immediately the cooling was perfect, however during the 20-25 min testing on shop, i noticed ice on the low pressure line(discharge line) , I did not know before that it can be due to excessive refrigerant leaking from the expansion valve if it gets stuck in open position but the ice(baraf) eventually melted but I did notice on multiple occasions after bringing the car home that it dripped on the left-engine mount idk why... khair ,, it worked well for 6 months and then ahista ahista it also started loosing cooling... basically it would cool 10,20,30 mins and then turn off cooling for 7-8 mins and then start again, randomly stop or randomly start and eventually ab... compressor does not engage when I press the AC button.
CURRENT ISSUE:
This time when I went to MS Autos, he said compressor gaya, change krke XLI wala laga lein bracket dalega, engine load nai aega, budget barhaen to Honda Life ka laga lein load nai aega, budget mazeed barha lein to down model corolla ka clutch wala laga lein etc... to which I said no , no and no.
I told him ya to sensor (solenoid valve) replace krdo ya yahi wala compressor change kro) he said mera kuch nai jata apka paisa hai lekn chale ga nai, ek din bhe nai chalega,,, (agar agli generation hoti i.e 11th gen to sensor se work kar jata agr carbon na hoti but is generation mai kamyaab nai hai).... is lye mera time or apka paisa dono zaya hai is option mai and that is it.
MY DIAGNOSIS
I think something in my car is not right which is why the load came on compressor and it malfunctioned otherwise how is it possible that it survived 16 years on original compressor and when I took it to technician only lasted 6 months, the ice on the low pressure line(discharge line) may be due to expansion valve stuck in open position or gas overcharge, which may have caused the compressor to die or it can be due to faulty coolant temperature sensor causing engine overheat and load coming on to compressor that is why it shut down, i dont know honestly, but I need to trace the fault and eliminate it before I do any new work on the AC as per my understanding by using elimination method technique.
As per forums, I have to check the following first to verify:
1. Remove wiring from compressor, scan the car, it may give the solenoid error code, clear it, reconnect the wire, compressor will engage. (rn there is no check engine light or any visible fault indication)
2. Check through multi-meter or any other equipment the duty cycle from the ECU to ensure it is a definite compressor fault not something from the ECU
3. If the solenoid valve fails it is either due to electric surge or carbon jamming it stuck so if there is carbon God forbid, how to check that and confirm not just rely on technicians word. I think that is why the solenoid keeps failing when they replace it because there is carbon in the compressor and it seeps through to the valve (due to piston or shaft misalignment I believe or just general aging or wear n tear) and also fails due to gas overcharging
YOUR HELP IN THE MATTER:
I need work done by the book basically original equipment service procedure work and the more I scroll through these forums, the more I get confused.
These are the people I have short-listed so far and the reason why
- Toyota Central Motors Shahra-e-Faisal (3s dealership and heard good reviews and is company operated so I can expect quality work, not sure)
- Thal Engineering
- Sabir Air Con
- Bashir Car AC
- Asif Car AC opposite Bashir
- Khan Autos (my relative and boss get their work done from them and they know us by face so maybe they do good work on face value)
I really think everyone will recommend me to change entire system if I want to put in original compressor(new). Now, spending 100-300k and having average work done will break my heart, all our life we had Mehran and Charade without AC, this is the first car in my family so this is a big thing for me, I can not explain it in words.
I can not stop the expense part but at least I can try and go to a specialist who will respect my hard earned money and perform proper installation by the book.
Please help me Xulfiqar sir. Apologies for such a long message.
