this is not a question pertaining to my '01 van... but rather a Toyota '97 Land Cruiser...

a couple of summers ago, when it got really hot the AC would squeal the AC belt...
took into a shop... their diagnosis after pulling the refrigerant out, pulling vac and putting measured amount back in was that my fan clutch was weak and not pulling enough air through rad...

on NOT really hot days the AC will work fine, maybe start the belt squealing again if I sit at a light, so I turn AC off, wiat till I am rolling again then back on and the AC would work, unless it got TOO hot outside, then I opened the windows...

this past spring I dropped in a new rad, and put in new OEM fan clutch and new belt... AC ran fine until...

we hit 90 the other day... rolling and AC was fine... at a light it started squealing again so I shut the AC off... turn on again while rolling and NO AC at all...
got home to find the AC belt snapped...

SO... are we talking new compressor with new o-ring fittings, expansion valve and what else as the next step? I want to prepare myself for possible parts costs...

 

Then you should ask the question on a Land Cruiser forum. I don't mean that in a sarcastic way. What I mean is that various makes of vehicles can have common quirks to them. So for us here this might never be an issue with a Dodge van. But if it is a common issue with a Land Cruiser, then that forum will have the answer for you ready and waiting.

Other than that, to me it sounds like the system is being overcharged and the high pressure safety switch (if one exists on a LC) isn't working.

 

you are right alloro

I read this forum almost daily ( I'm retired and have the time) and because of my ignorance of vehicle AC, I figured that they all work the same...

besides, on the LC forum, most of the guys have Aussie accents... but have cut and paste the question over there to see what they say...

 

Quick turn off the lights!!! I hear a Moderator on the way!! LOL

 

Why?

 

Toyota Talk! just funning though I see he is an avid Dodge Man

 

Oh...it's okay they go pretty easy on us here in this forum with off topic content since we're so well behaved all the time.

 

I have owned three Dodge Maxi-vans since my first one in '86... first an '82 B150, then a '94 B250, now an '01 B2500 on a 3500 chassis. https://dodgeforum.com/forum/images/...icon_steer.gif

The '82, 318 window van I bought used in '86 with 90,000 on it. I used it as a daily driver, weekend camper and boat tow vehicle until I let my daughter drive it to school from '98 to '01, then gave it to a friend that needed a car while going through a divorce. I think it lasted until '03 with over 300,000 miles on it before rusting apart.

The '94 5.9l (new style) van I bought new and converted it myself into a custom van. It was a daily driver, weekend camper and tow vehicle until '01, then a tow vehicle/camper/highway cruiser van for another 6-7 years. It was pulling strong until I totaled it in rear end collision with a truck in '08. Had about 265,000 on it and it ran strong all that time.

The current '01 5.2l van I bought in '10 with 128,000 on it. It had been used as a painter's van to haul around tools and such. Inside, (no back seat) was full of paint splatters. I cleaned it up, fixed rusted out floor and now have 178,000 on it. I did put in rebuilt tranny last fall, but have since been on two, 3,000+ mile trips with the new tranny pulling a popup camper. Runs strong... I now have purchased a hybrid camper and will use it to pull 4,500# camper on a few trips a year. Recently, using opinions posted on this forum, I purchased and had installed Air-Lift brand air bags in the rear to help with the 450# tongue weight on the extended rear end of this van.

This forum has been a wealth of good information on preventive tips and useful information when I have posted a question.

alloro, blackvan, stev, funair02, landyacht318 and MANY MORE have been very generous with their time and knowledge to help on so many different Dodge van topics... I do so enjoy the benefits of reading about my van and other's experiences.

BTW... AC question? .. Toyota forum suggests using genuine AC belt and replacing idler pulley before purchasing expensive Denso compressor and related gear for my LCruiser... just picked up those parts today. https://dodgeforum.com/forum/images/icons/icon7.gif

 

Sorry to go off-topic but I'd recommended the Air Lift bags. How are you liking them?

The cool thing about routing the valves inside is I can use them to level the campervan at a site from the comfort of my bed with a plain 'ol bike pump. Having said that, I rarely do.

 

So far they are OK, although I have not yet towed anything with the bags installed. I pick up my new camper next week. The best thing was as you mentioned they were on sale on Amazon, with an additional $50 rebate bringing the total delivered price to $215 for the pair. I had to wait nearly a month for them to come into stock, after I decided to go with the Air Lift brand. I had them professionally installed and the installer said he thought this was the absolute best way to go to accomplish the anti-tail sag that I wanted to do. They installed easily, but he had to tweak my tail pipe as it ran too close to the air bag on the right side. He had to bend the pipe about 1/2 inch further away and then install the heat shield that came with the kit. So far, so good.

I will pull the camper home about 125 miles from the dealer, then I have a camp reservation after July 4 about 160 miles away. It appears I can get 2 inches or more of lift https://dodgeforum.com/forum/images/.../icon_pala.gif
easily with the van empty, but the intention is to support nearly 500# of tongue weight, levered far back on my maxi-van chassis. I have a WDHitch also. We will see how that works, but I am sure that it will. I have a 12V power port inside the rear doors with a tire air pump and the valves installed on each side just below the rear bumper.

Thank you for the great suggestion... it really saved me some money.

PS why aren't my smilies working?