Help with A/C

[magsnwill]

My A/C only blows warm air. I thought maybe the freon was low, so I checked it this weekend with one of those refill cans with the gauge on it. The gauge was way in the red warning zone (around 180 psi). Any ideas what would cause this and what I can do to fix it???

Thanks.

 

[home4sale2]

You should consider getting a proper gauge that can check both low and high. Search the forum and you will get the numbers you need that are considered "normal". They are temperature dependent. The guage I bought (from Autozone, sure you can buy it anywhere) shows the ranges for each port. Check it when it's running and also pay attention to see if the clutch engages when the AC is on. Let's go from there. Without you doing this step with a proper gauge, it might be hard to diagnose further. Is this the first time this has happened? In my case for example, it was happening every year i.e. I had a leak. No magic bullet in that case, fix the leak or keep adding this stuff into the environment which is illegal.

 

[magsnwill]

Thanks. I'll see if I can get a gauge this weekend and go from there.

Yes, this is the first time it has happened.

 

[pet575]

I checked it this weekend with one of those refill cans with the gauge on it. The gauge was way in the red warning zone (around 180 psi).

I'm assuming you were checking the low pressure side if you were using the refill can with the gauge on it. Did you have the A/C turned on when doing so? Only way I know of to get into the "Danger Zone" on those gauges when hooked to the low pressure side is if the A/C is not turned on.

Start the engine, crank the A/C all the way up with the temp as low as it will go. THEN check the pressure again.

 

[magsnwill]

I'm assuming you were checking the low pressure side if you were using the refill can with the gauge on it. Did you have the A/C turned on when doing so? Only way I know of to get into the "Danger Zone" on those gauges when hooked to the low pressure side is if the A/C is not turned on.

Start the engine, crank the A/C all the way up with the temp as low as it will go. THEN check the pressure again.

The engine was running and I had it switched to max A/C, all the way on cold.

 

[turborich]

If you had the hose hooked up to the low side port which is the only port it should fit on & your A/C was on with the compressor engaged then your reading should be around 35-40 psi on a properly working system. Sounds to me like you A/C compressor was not engaged. The pressure will equalize in both the low & high side lines when the A/C is off.

If your charge is low then the compressor will not engage. Once you start adding refrigerant it will slowly start cycling until the pressure rises.

I would verify what's going on before trying to add refrigerant.

 

[JoshMcMadMac]

Assuming that you did indeed have the compressor cycling, there is an obstruction in the system that needs fixed.