Toyota Yaris Forums - Ultimate Yaris Enthusiast Site
 

 


 
Go Back   Toyota Yaris Forums - Ultimate Yaris Enthusiast Site > Technical Forums > DIY / Maintenance / Service
  The Tire Rack

Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
Old 06-08-2017, 03:57 PM   #1
sven337
 
Drives: Yaris
Join Date: Feb 2014
Location: France
Posts: 33
Dirty cabin filter installed backwards broke air conditioning?

Hi,
while I was doing something else on the car, I figured I would check if the cabin air filter needed to be replaced. It did, and until I could get the new one I reinstalled the dirty one (after having shaken it a few times outside to kick off as much crap as possible). Unfortunately, I installed it backwards, and I suspect it may have broken my air conditioning.

I wasn't in the car when it happened, and the person driving wasn't very technical - what they told me was that as soon as they turned on AC ("normal" ventilation worked fine), they saw "white smoke" come into the car. That smoke was apparently odorless, and stopped after a few seconds. When asked, they said they had no idea whether it could be condensation or real smoke.

Since then, the AC still works (without any white smoke), as you can feel cold air being blown inside the car, but it definitely doesn't work as well as it used to - the air is cold, while it used to be *very* (exceedingly) cold. With summer being on us soon, I'd like to have AC that works well.

I assume that some of the particles stuck in the filter were sucked into the system where they caused *something*. Any idea as to what that something may be, and how I can fix it?

Thank you
sven337 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 06-09-2017, 06:02 AM   #2
dogsridewith
 
Drives: 2007 2-door hatchback
Join Date: Jul 2016
Location: USAnotCA
Posts: 750
HVAC filter backwards smoke condensation drain tube

Was the removed backwards-installed filter element intact? Check for blocking inside the HVAC drain tube.
dogsridewith is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 06-09-2017, 06:13 AM   #3
sven337
 
Drives: Yaris
Join Date: Feb 2014
Location: France
Posts: 33
The filter was intact, but dirty.
Can you help me find the HVAC drain tube?
Thanks
EDIT: I should do my homework first. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AmeQiOrHFug and a multitude of results come up. I'll try that and report back.
EDIT2: The HVAC drain tube was not clogged. I ran the AC for a while, cut the engine, and didn't see anything come out though, so maybe there's a clog somewhere else in the system. Suggestions welcome.

Last edited by sven337; 06-09-2017 at 08:07 AM. Reason: homework
sven337 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 06-12-2017, 11:16 AM   #4
soldiersvejk
 
Drives: 2009 Toyota Yaris Sedan
Join Date: Jun 2017
Location: Massachusetts
Posts: 11
As far as to my knowledge,it is not impossible to clog the "AC" line, if you mean where the refrigerants flow.
I could only clog the drain plug of the evaporator, or some fins within the evaporator. However, since the debris collected by the cabin air filter are often relatively small, they are not more likely to causing clogs than the leaves near your air intake between the windshield and the good.
soldiersvejk is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 06-12-2017, 01:44 PM   #5
CoryM
 
Drives: 2009 5-door, 5-speed
Join Date: Sep 2011
Location: White Rock BC
Posts: 687
There isn't much damage the backward air filter could cause. Worse case it may have let more grit get into moving parts such as your fan bearings etc. These are designed to run w/o a cab filter, so you likely didn't damage anything.
The white smoke may have been dust from them using the fan in recirc for the first time and blowing the dust out of the backwards filter?

A/C refrigerant has dye in it and smells pretty strong so I doubt that is what they noticed. And the A/C wouldn't work at all now if the gas came out. Is it possible your A/C wasn't working well prior to the "smoke", and you just noticed now because your attention was drawn to it? Also, with the A/C and engine on, look underhood and see if the A/C compressor is actually engaged and spinning.
CoryM is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 06-19-2017, 05:38 AM   #6
sven337
 
Drives: Yaris
Join Date: Feb 2014
Location: France
Posts: 33
It is possible that A/C wasn't working too well and that the "smoke" just draw attention to it. That happens often in life. :)
I read, somewhere on this forum, the suggestion of running the blower at full speed with A/C and the vents closed. I did that for a while after having trying to unclog the drain tube (which I don't think was clogged).
It looks like that operation did recover some A/C "performance". It's still not blowing air as cold as it used to, but it can be considered functional. I guess a 10 year old A/C unit that hasn't undergone any maintenance/replacement can plausibly not perform as well as a brand new one.
sven337 is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply

Tags
air conditioning, cabin filter

Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off

Forum Jump

Similar Threads
Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
Car shuts off when A/C turned on... Howster DIY / Maintenance / Service 33 07-06-2013 05:00 PM
Liftback Air Conditioning (Cabin) Filter info Snappy DIY / Maintenance / Service 24 10-01-2010 06:36 PM
cabin air filter kaboom DIY / Maintenance / Service 108 03-31-2009 09:00 PM
DIY: Changing Your Cabin Air Filter tk-421 DIY / Maintenance / Service 0 06-30-2007 06:40 PM
CA: Free Cabin Air Filter, Socal only. kunfuzion Items for Sale by private party 6 03-24-2007 11:34 PM


All times are GMT -4. The time now is 08:55 AM.




YarisWorld
Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.11
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions Inc.