Toyota Repair: 1998 Avalon air-conditioning, toyota dealer, leak detector

Question
Ted,
I own a 1998 Avalon with close to 115,000 miles on it. The A/C has begun only blowing warm air out.The system is functioning fine as far as the blowers are concerned, but the hot air isn't making my drives very pleasent. What is your course of action to fix this problem? Would you also be able to ballpark the amount of $ it should take to fix it. Can this be easily repaired by an owner in a garage with limnited knowledge and tools? Thanks for your help.

Mike
Louisville, KY

Answer
The answer to your last question is NO.
The first step to any a/c diagnosis is to connect pressure gauges to see what the line pressures are, in your case since the compressor doesn't come on the freon has leaked out and there is a leak in the system somewhere, there are two ways to find freon leaks, one is using an a/c leak detector, the other is to evacuate the system with a recovery machine and the add a flourescent dye, refill the system and then check for leaks with an UV light, there is just no easy solution and the best advice I can give is to have a qualified a/c technician diagnose the problem, preferably at a toyota dealer.