AC and recirculate lights are not working in our '03 Camry. I push each of the buttons and they both stay unlit. Several years ago, the AC dash light was blinking and the AC was not working. I replaced one of the AC relays with an Eichelin from NAPA for $12.00 and all has been good. Today, neither the AC light, nor the adjacent recirculate light would illuminate no matter how many times I pushed each button. It was very cool today, so not sure if the A/C came on when I punched the A/C button or not. I checked all fuses, all look good. Called my mechanic, he hazarded out of Freon, but we had it filled 18 months ago (I know, it could still have all leaked out). Is it possible that it is one of the relays? There are a half-dozen Denso relays that all look the same, including a couple of OTHER A/C and heater ones other than the one we replaced. If I were to be cheap and brave and wanted to swap out one of the A/C relays to see if it fixed the problem, how would I know which one to swap.. In other words are all the relays that look alike, really alike. It's not like fuses that have the amps on the top. I guess the other question, is there a way to test the relays with maybe my digital multimeter, which I hardly know how to operate, but I can, with a lot of study, test the 12V battery with it. kris
I would start with getting the electrical schematics for your car. Then I would look for relays and fuses to check. Then I would ohm-our the circuit. Your multimeter has an OHM setting. You can use it to check the coil and contacts. But it might be faster to go to an auto parts store that has a good return policy. Take out the suspect relay; ask for replacement; test, and return if it doesn’t fix problem. My recommendation is to find YouTube training videos and learn Ohms and Amps. Then disgnose the problem before going to parts store. Bob Wilson
I'm sure that you already looked at something like this....but....this looked like a good high level overview and has a link to a vid. Relays in Auto Electrics a basic guide Usually the manual or a YouTube video will be helpful in locating the fuse panel and there will be a diagram nearby providing relay locations. Pull the old one and do a like-for-like swap. The extra-brave troubleshooter can sometimes get a 'donor' relay from the same vehicle, and I would be lying if I said that I never used this as a troubleshooting guide, but beware for obvious reasons! Good Luck!
You got to be careful of the relay pin outs. Some are 5, some are 4. Relays are across some vehicles or circuits are different, especially, how the schematics of the relays are designed. You got to be careful, because amperages of the relays are different. Electric fan motors are rated 30A, for instance.
Generally speaking, when the AC is on it should always be working regardless of the temperature. No, but some may have a schematic printed on them that can help in identifying which are similar. For your application, you should be able to swap out Position # 1 in relay block with Position # 3 in relay block. Does the fan/blower work otherwise?
Hmm, I am starting to catch on, I think. Replaced the blower motor resistor a month or so ago, as the fan was only working on high. That seemed to fix that problem....until this new issue cropped up. I guess I should try to see if I "see" anything with the freon
O.K. This is good or bad? I am giving the Prius a rest. So I drive the Camry today. Hit the AC and the recirc buttons as a test and then they all light up "all normal" like and everything works? Did my wiggling of relays, light thumping of relays and my curses in Swedish cause things to work again? If so, I had better start using my Swedish more often.
If this is incomplete Swedish profanity - Wikipedia Perhaps we should not know details. When Alicia Vikander introduced Svensk slang to the world, it seemed mostly about alcohol and its excesses.
Gee, I must be an old geezer, spending Friday night reading P/C. Seems to me that I have read/heard/performed -- smacking or rapping a reluctant relay can at times cause it to start working again. So, I might assume -- mind you I really know nothing about this -- that one of your relays is/was causing the problem and your messing with it fixed it -- for now. Not sure how long that might last....and since it sounds as if you went a bit Postal and cursed and smacked them all.... Anyway, glad it is working for you.
