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A/C Problem in 1997 XLT

G

gensic11

Ok guys... here's the deal.

I have always had problems with my AC since I bought the car from the dealer 2 years ago. I took it back in and they said they replaced the compressor because it was bad (whether they did or not it's hard to say). The AC worked fine when I finally left with it. About a year later it stopped working again (it would click on and click off while sitting idle) The compressor STAYS on while I am driving but i'm not getting ANY cold air, not even cool anymore. I replaced the freon last year and it stopped it from clicking on and off and on again (while idle) and i think it gave me a little cooler air (i cant remember for sure). Anyway it started clicking again so I figured I had a leak and I needed new freon. So i went and bought a can to fix the leak and then another can to fill up the freon again.. I AM FULL of freon.. but i am still not getting any cool air and the compressor keeps clicking on and off while idling.. I know I'm full because we put 2 cans in and it wouldnt accept the rest of the second can.. anyway does anyone know why it wont blow cold? Do you think the freon isnt making it to the right places in my truck, like its just sitting in the tank or what.. any ideas would really help it's about 95-100 here and i have to sweat everywhere I drive even with the windows down haha.. any help would be great!

thanks

josh
 






Perhaps you have a bad pressure switch. On the low side where you input the r134. If you disconnect the plug and short the connection, the compressor should run without click on and off and you should find the air cooler. If it does, then perhaps the switch is faulty. If it is not cool (you could be really low on r134 which doesn't figure since you tried to add some) or the compressor doesn't engage for a longer period, then you have something else wrong. Note, you should not run the compressor with switch shorted for any long period of time (ie. it is just for testing purposes).
 






If your compressor runs continually while driving, you should be getting cold air. Cycling is normal at idle, and even while running.

Do the refrigerant lines get cold or sweat? If they do, then perhaps you have a problem in the ducting in the dash and the evaporator is getting cold but the fan is not blowing over it but the heater core instead. The vacuum motor can fail or a hose can fall off.

It's possible that the screen on the orifice tube is clogged. This is a very fine mesh that is part of the molded plastic housing of the orifice tube. This prevent the liquid freon from going through the tube in sufficient quantity for cold air.

The part is about $3 at Pep Boy's. Putting it in can be difficult as it is hard to get to. If you trace the line from high side of the compressor to where it enters the evaporator (in the firewall) you will find the fitting you must disconnect. They make a special tool to get the tube out, but I've done it with a pair of needle nose pliers. Of course, this discharges all the refrigerant in your system.

On my '92 the orifice tube was the lower refrigerant line on the evaporator.

By the way, if when you pull it out everything is black (the oil, etc) you are suffering from what a/c specialists call 'Black Death'. In that case, pretty much everything needs to be replaced as you cannot really purge the entire system and make it clean enough for it to not happen again.

Regards
 






gensic11 said:
I know I'm full because we put 2 cans in and it wouldnt accept the rest of the second can.. anyway does anyone know why it wont blow cold? Do you think the freon isnt making it to the right places in my truck, like its just sitting in the tank or what.. any ideas would really help it's about 95-100 here and i have to sweat everywhere I drive even with the windows down haha.. any help would be great!

thanks

josh

Did you use quality guages while filling the unit? If you over filled it the high side presser switch will shut down the compressor so you dont blow it. I worked on a 98 with same problem, found he had 300 on the high side. I dont remember the low side number but after letting out freon till we reached 150 the a/c worked fine. fyi....
 






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