NewHilux.net

Hey all, I have a 96 Hilux petrol engine. The carbi's are getting old but they've been acting pretty good lately - minimal rough idling, and starting more consistently. My AC has been out of action for a while but finally got it fixed today. As soon as I drove it out of the mechanic with the AC on, I noticed a little less power and very rough idle, under 500rpm. It hasn't done this for a long time. Coincidence or has it got something to do with the aircon? Even without ac on, it's still not great...

Cheers

Zak

If turning the AC off makes no difference to your power loss then pop the bonnet and have a quick look to see if the AC Mechanic has bumped a vacuum hose loose or something like this. Not normally what you'd expect from a mechanic, but accidents do happen.
If there's nothing obvious then I'd be straight back to "Old Mate" and say "Hey, I've lost heaps of power since you did the job, can you just check nothing is wrong before I spend a fortune tracking it down?"
Don't hurt to ask, just don't hand out heaps of cash if he sounds sus' or angry, I feel certain there's plenty of places that would be happy do do a great job for your coin.

I agree with Rob, the older ac systems had a vacuum operated switch/solenoid to bump up the revs when the ac compressor turns on. The extra load of the compressor reduces idle revs without it. Maybe the solenoid has a vacuum leak or a hose off.