Q: Pete, I have a 2012 Toyota Camry LE and I hit a deer and Service King fixed the repair. They had to put more coolant in my car's

asked by on May 04, 2017

I hit a deer and the vehicle was fixed and they had to add more coolant. Now my A/C blows hot air even though I have it set to cold A/C. The condenser is running and then sometimes it automatically starts blowing cold air and works like it should. They checked for leaks and no leaks and put more coolant and same thing. I was told that it was the flow sensor that needed to be replaced on the condenser. Is this something that I can buy and replace without having to replace the entire compressor and have all that expense? I appreciate your time and assistance.

My car has 138000 miles.
My car has an automatic transmission.

AC is not working Inspection $111.46 - $131.46 Get a Quote

Unfortunately, the flow sensor is not serviceable on a do it yourself basis because the refrigerant has to be evacuated. Don’t even think about trying it if you have never worked on a/c because you run a substantial risk of high pressure refrigerant blowing out if you make a mistake, hitting you in the eye and blindly you instantly. A/C systems are actually a uniquely dangerous component on a motor vehicle and present risks of a type that you don’t face with other much more mundane electrical and mechanical faults. If you try to evacuate an a/c system without the right equipment you’ll lose the system compressor oil, too, and then when you restart the system the compressor will run dry and just fail. If the sensor is available from Toyota, that part ALONE can be replaced, thus saving you money, but you still have to evacuate the system. Unless a very specific diagnostic was already properly performed, I would not assume that the sensor is the problem. There are high and low pressure cut off switches, compressor clutch controls and many other components that can account for the fault that you have described. If you desire a system diagnostic to get to the bottom of this and get the right repair implemented, please request a/c system diagnostic and the responding certified mechanic will get this taken care of for you. If you have further questions or concerns, do not hesitate to re-contact YourMechanic as we are always here to help you.

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