You may have seen one of these air conditioning recharge kits at your local auto parts store, which usually consists of a recharge hose with a gauge and some refrigerant. The way this AC recharge kit is advertised lends itself to appear as if it will take care of any issue you might be having with your air conditioning system. The reality is that a recharge kit such as the one below will essentially fix only one issue: if the air coming through your vents is not as cold as it used to be.

It’s an inevitable issue on the early model 4th generation Toyota 4Runners: the A/C Light suddenly starts flashing or blinking and the cold air coming from your vents suddenly becomes warm. This happens to almost all of us 4th gen 4Runner owners; it’s happened to me around the time I bought my car more than 7 years ago, and it happened to me again recently. The issue is typically not simply that the air conditioner system has failed, but simply an electrical relay that was destined to fail over time. This magnetic clutch relay is located in the fuse box located under the hood. This relay will need to be replaced in order for the a/c light flashing issue to be resolved.