A/C cycles a lot

[jcwaters1]

i know there is other info about this on the site, but most of the threads arent finished and dont seem to have a solution. my A/C compressor seems to cylce more then it should...probably about every 10 seconds. i recharged it with r134 from napa with a gauge till it said it was where it was supposed to be, and it wont take any more, but i still get the annoying clicking from the compressor. why is it going on and off so often?

 

[evilboi]

i know there is other info about this on the site, but most of the threads arent finished and dont seem to have a solution. my A/C compressor seems to cylce more then it should...probably about every 10 seconds. i recharged it with r134 from napa with a gauge till it said it was where it was supposed to be, and it wont take any more, but i still get the annoying clicking from the compressor. why is it going on and off so often?

i've this same problem too. it will cycle like every 10s with a high RPM and drop back to normal after awhile and repeats itself

 

[FloridaState]

Pretty much my entire AC system has been rebuilt, and mine does this as well. As soon as it clicks off, it comes on less than 5 seconds later. I always thought that's just the way it is.

 

[Tuckin Eh]

my 4.0L ranger and my 3.0L ranger also do that. i just got my explorer so i dunno if it does it yet but its identical to my ranger 4.0L so I wouldn't be shocked. i think its just a ford thing. not necessarily a problem

 

[4ever4d]

Often times but not always this is a sign of low freon or r-134 in the system it may be a good idea to have the system pressure tested or simply buy a can of r-134 at a parts store and add a bit to the system just be cautious and not overfill the system the small gauge and charging hose can also be purchased at a parts store and work well enough to get the job done.

 

[keeksta]

Often times but not always this is a sign of low freon or r-134 in the system it may be a good idea to have the system pressure tested or simply buy a can of r-134 at a parts store and add a bit to the system just be cautious and not overfill the system the small gauge and charging hose can also be purchased at a parts store and work well enough to get the job done.

this doesnt happen from not enough freon, his system is working perfectly fine, the more freon in the systeme the more it will kick in and out, on the low pressure side if u hook up the gauge you will see when it kicks on that the pressure will drop and the evap will get colder, once the pressure sensor read around 30ish psi it kick out then the pressure will return to 50ish psi and will continue to do this as long as the ac is on. dont forget that the lower the pressure is the cooler the evap will be when the pump is on.

 

[Maniak]

Umm.. .thats not quite right...

Its the pressure differential that gives you the cooling and it should not be cycling often. Once in a while is fine but not every 10 seconds.

Without using a manifold set to get the high and low pressures your just guessing at what is going on but as mentioned before, if its cycling fast then "usually" its low on freon and the pressure is dropping below what the low pressure switch is looking for which is "around" 30 psi.

~Mark

 

[evilboi]

Umm.. .thats not quite right...

Its the pressure differential that gives you the cooling and it should not be cycling often. Once in a while is fine but not every 10 seconds.

Without using a manifold set to get the high and low pressures your just guessing at what is going on but as mentioned before, if its cycling fast then "usually" its low on freon and the pressure is dropping below what the low pressure switch is looking for which is "around" 30 psi.

~Mark

so you suggest to top up freon onto my car? if yes where to top up? i'm new to explorer. driving a 99 4.0 V6 XLS

 

[jcwaters1]

thats all fine and dandy, but it wont take any more freon. i added it last summer and tried to yesterday and it wont take anymore. the air is cold coming out of the vents too i might add. the can is pretty much as full now as when i started. yesterday

 

[Maniak]

No, I suggest you pay $40-$50 or so for a manifold set and figure out what your pressures are. Then if you see the static pressure and both the high side and the low side pressures are low then add some to get the pressures right.

If you add to much you can blow a line, pop the blow off valve, break the compressor etc..

Also, an over charged system won't cool well AND some systems even have high pressure switches which will turn off the compressor if the high side gets too high (I know 1st Gens don't have this, I don't know about rangers or newer X's).

~Mark

 

[Maniak]

thats all fine and dandy, but it wont take any more freon. i added it last summer and tried to yesterday and it wont take anymore. the air is cold coming out of the vents too i might add. the can is pretty much as full now as when i started. yesterday

The system will just about always take freon. Sometimes you need to put the can in warm water and the system needs to be running, BUT, if your low side pressures are high for some reason then the system pressure will be higher than the can pressure and it won't take any But, that means your system is broken at that point as the low side pressure should always be low when running.

I've only seen systems do that when the orifice tube gets blown into the evaporator. At that point you don't get a pressure differential and the low pressure side has very high pressure. An overcharged system can also get the low pressure side high enough to have more pressure than the can But at that point your high pressures will also be very high..

That is why you use a manifold gauge set.



~Mark

 

[evilboi]

No, I suggest you pay $40-$50 or so for a manifold set and figure out what your pressures are. Then if you see the static pressure and both the high side and the low side pressures are low then add some to get the pressures right.

If you add to much you can blow a line, pop the blow off valve, break the compressor etc..

Also, an over charged system won't cool well AND some systems even have high pressure switches which will turn off the compressor if the high side gets too high (I know 1st Gens don't have this, I don't know about rangers or newer X's).

~Mark

possible to enlighten me where is the low and high port on the explorer?

 

[Maniak]

Low pressure port is by the accumulator (passenger side), aka the drier.. The high pressure port is the one on the drivers side, between the compressor and the condensor. Normally its on one of the hard lines coming off the condenser (radiator looking thing)

~Mark