I have a 2001 toyota 4runner limited. Its got 255k miles on it. It has the digital climate control.

So it's a 100 degree day here in Los Angeles, and I was driving in street traffic with my AC set to 71 and the recirculation button ON. All of a sudden i noticed that it switched to open air. 5 seconds later it switched back to recirculation. 5 seconds later it goes back to open air. And then again to recirculation 5 seconds later. It keeps doing this for a span of around 30 seconds. Then it stays on recirculation.

Another 3 minutes go by and it's starts switching back and forth again for 30seconds. And it stops at recirculation on. It kept doing this all the way in traffic. I finally jumped on the freeway and noticed that it finally stayed on recirculation on and no longer started switching back and forth.

I do not know what is happening. Is it a compressor problem?

Your advice or opinions are appreciated.

 

Not sure about the climate control system .

Does it shift to fresh air if the evaporator coil freezes ?

When was the last time you had the system checked ??

Is it related to information from the coolant temp sensor if the engine gets to hot the AC will shut off on some systems.