Bad AC clutch? Compressor?

[rmac1163]

Seeking some words of wisdom, advice, etc. I have a '98 Sport w/4.0. The AC has not worked for quite some time and now that it's getting warm I would like to have this fixed (go figure...). Anyways when I turn on the AC it simply blows air on both AC settings. I checked the (low) pressure and it appears that I have the right amount of pressure so the system does not appear to need refridgerant. When I turn on the AC the clutch engages for about 5 seconds (with a noticable 'click'), stops and then re-engages again after about 10 seconds or so. It then repeats the cycle. I'm not sure if this is normal or not? Any assistance would be appreciated. Thanks!

 

[BrooklynBay]

It's probably low on freon. Connect a manifold gauge set, and check the pressure. I think you might need a charge.

 

[rmac1163]

Thanks for the reply. My low pressure reading was in the acceptable range; however, I did attempt to add some additional R134 which it didn't seem to want to take. Perhaps I'm doing something wrong? Also, how often should the compressor/clutch be engaging? Is what I'm hearing (as described in my initial post) unusual or to be expected?