A/C compressor kicks in and out lots ?

[SparkyGT]

my a/c compressor is kicking in and out constantly, not much cold air in max, and a touch in normal. had the mechanic at work hook up the gauges, and tested good hi-pressure, so no leaks and even the refrigerant was 99% pure, so a little bit of hydrocarbon he said.

The problem he says might be the temperature control but hes no ford guy, so is it just the switch in the dash i need(whats behind the knob)? or is it somewhere else?

when i flip to hot it heats lots, and back to cold does cool down, but not much better than outside air.

 

[Lube]

A couple options here.

One (and most likely), it's short of refrigerant regardless of what your mechanic said. If all he went by was a gauge on the high side, you can't really tell. If all he's using is a gauge from an A/C charging kit that comes with a can of refrigerant - find a new mechanic. And how does he know if there's any hydrocarbon in it? About the only way that could happen is if you hooked your A/C system up to your exhaust.

2. Dirty condenser - full of bugs, rocks, dirt etc. Wash it out back to front. You'll have to pull the radiator.

3. Bad fan clutch. But it should be overheating too if this is the problem.

4. Some kind of restriction in the lines. Would require a system flush.

 

[Total Perfektion]

Is this an on-going thing, or has this just started? how hot has it been in Canada, with all the high temps lately, 134 freon or any other freon is going to struggle due to the heat. You said you have good hi-pressure, what about the low side pressure? you might want to check the orifice tube or the pressure switch. If the orifice tube is clogged up it will show as good hi-pressure on the hi-side guage. And the pressure switch picks up the low side, causing the A/C compressor to kick on and off due to low pressure on the low side, because of the blockage at the orifice tube.

 

[SparkyGT]

hes the guy that does alot of A/C, mostly heavier equipemnt. we have a A/C tester that tells what type it is and the real gauges, not something that comes with a can. the temp here just got into the 90's barely, havent used it much because i thought it was low

the hydrocarbon reading is from the tester before the gauges went on, i will have to see what it is, i havent done a/c in 15 years so all this new stuff is confusing.

 

[budwich]

power to your clutches travels thru your pressure switches... get a meter and find out which one is "complaining" and go from there instead of guessing at what the problem is. IF the power doesn't arrive or is "broken" before it gets to the switches then you have a problem with the control and/or a wiring issue. Nothing has changed with that "system" in "50 years"....