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Help with air conditioner problem(s) on '02 XLT

Cobia

New Member
Joined
November 14, 2011
Messages
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City, State
Palm Beach County, FL
Year, Model & Trim Level
2002 XLT
Hi,

For several years I had to add a can of refrigerant at the beginning of the summer and that carried me through the rest of the year. That's a lot to say living in south Florida. And that's what I did in the spring of 2013. I put a can in, ran it and it cooled perfectly. The problem happened the following morning when I started my '02 Explorer XLT with the 4.0L SOC and turned on the AC.
I'm the type that always turned off the AC before turning off the engine and never turned on the AC until the engine warmed up for a minute or so.
The day of the problem was no different except that when I turned on the AC I heard a little POP come from low under the hood and the compressor turned off.
The blower works, the heater circuit works, the AC activation button light works, but the compressor doesn't come on.
At first I thought I blew a hose or a seal somewhere, so I bought a can of refrigerant with dye but couldn't find the leak. I got frustrated with it and since I didn't have the $$ to fix it I endured the summers of '13 and '14 without AC. But with the increasing hot temps I started addressing this issue.
I enlisted a mechanic friend's help to help me troubleshoot the cause of the problem. First off we hot wired the compressor to see if it run without issues and it did, it even started cooling and producing cold air inside the truck. Not having gauges with us we confirmed that both sides were pressurized by pressing the filler valve momentarily. I know, this is not an accurate measure, but it gave us peace of mind that we wouldn't have to purge and dry the circuits.
So, this brings me to the question that has us both baffled. Which one of the sensors, relays, etc. should we check/replace to see if we can get my AC running back again since it seems to point to something electrical?

Sorry about the long winded post but I want to give you a complete picture of what's going on and what we tested.

I appreciate any and all help you can provide me.

Thanks
 



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You should check the pressure with gauges as you still may be low on refrigerant. It could be a faulty low pressure switch. You can check the voltage of the low pressure switch. If it is working right 12 volts should be going out when the compressor is on.
 






You obviously have a leak in the system. It is common on these vehicles to have a leak develop through the receiver / drier from the inside out due to corrosion from acid developing as a result of moisture inside the system. Dye might not show it as it is usually under the insulation and on the side closer to the bottom. The receiver / drier is just to the left of the rad. If you see or feel oil towards the base of the drier you have a leak.
If you have rear A/C I would check that area as well.
 






without measuring the pressures on both high and low, you are still on the dark. it might be simply low on freon due to a small leak. measure it first before diving into sensors or other areas. Harbor Freight has ac gauge that costs $45, that tool pays itself over time if you have multiple vehicles.
 






Thanks folks, I'll verify the pressures and get back to you on this.
 






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