OK, I know alot of you hardcore wheelin guys could care less about A/C. But living in Florida, and never owning a vehicle with A/C- I am tiring of long trips with no A/C. Especially after fishing and camping all weekend in the heat.
My truck had rolled down an incline and smacked a tree from the P.O. All had been fixed in the ordeal except the primary and secondary condensors which of course were crunched a bit. I took it to my mechanic for a diagnosis as I don't know much at all about a/c. He said they charged it up with nitrogen and as suspected- big leaks. He says I need the following items: New primary and secondary condensor (the small radiator type things in front of my main radiator,right?), a dryer(the can thing to the right?), new o-rings and schrader valves, and however many pounds of new coolant. Total cost? $700 and that is if my compressor still works. That's nuts as the truck cost me $1500 from a family member.
I'm not afraid to wrench on this myself, I also have a coolant leak sniffer. Questions: Is it woth it to find the condensors and dryer in a junkyard or is it best to get these items new? What other Yota's perhaps shared the same parts? Surely some o-rings and schrader valves won't be that much. Any advice on doing this stuff myself would be greatly appreciated as well as sourcing the parts. I have the Bentley and the factory manual for my 88 Runner, so I will at least have some good reference material on the procedures I plan to tackle. Thanks in adavnce.