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  • #1

    Car A/C trouble

    Not a happy camper right now.

    Since it began to get warm in my area, I noticed that the A/C in my "new" car was not functioning properly. At first (that is, once the car is started) it worked OK for a little bit, then after it cycled off, it refused to cycle back on again. The only way to get it back aside from parking the car and coming back later was to turn the A/C mode button off, wait 3-5 minutes, then press the button again and perhaps 2 out of 3 times it would kick back on. If not, it was another 3-5 minute wait.

    I realized in retrospect that this was why on a couple of occasions I could not get the front windshield to defog AT ALL.

    So this past week I took it in to my trusted mechanic (we've been taking our cars to him for a good 20 years) to get that looked at along with a timing belt which was due soon.

    The AC portion of the repair was about $250-275 (total bill was $708). According to the service invoice, they found the system to be low on refrigerant, so they evacuated the system, vacuumed it down to remove any moisture, did a leak down test (finding no leaks), then refilled it.

    (As a side note, it's my understanding that car A/C systems are sealed and would only become low on refrigerant if there's a leak. So I'm not quite sure how it would need a recharge yet pass the leak down test.....)

    When I picked the car up the A/C seemed to be working brilliantly, and was blowing ice cold. So cold in fact, that I had to turn it down a couple notches.

    Well, yesterday and today it's been acting up even worse than before. Right now, it'll come on, cycle off, come back on briefly, then it just totally craps out. This was especially troublesome today because on my commute home it was EXTREMELY humid and the windows were fogging up so bad that I had to grab a t-shirt I had in there and start wiping off the windows so I could see.

    I tried turning off the A/C first for 3 minutes, then 5 minutes, then 7, then TEN, all with no luck. Finally, after nearly an hour of this nonsense, it finally came back to life about 5 minutes away from my house.

    Not happy am I.

    Of course, my mechanic closes up shop at 5 so I haven't had a chance to discuss this with him yet.

    All I know for certain is that the system IS properly charged right now. I have an R-134A pressure gauge and it indicates that the system low-side pressure is exactly where a fully-charged system should be.

    I'm just hoping this isn't going to cost me another small fortune.
    "We guard the souls in heaven; we don't horse-trade them!" Samandrial in Supernatural

    RIP Plaidman.
    Tags: None
  • #2
    This may seem weird.. but it may be the A/C clutch. If it is the clutch, it's more efficient to just replace the clutch and the compressor at the same time (you will have to be replacing either one or the other). It strangely also MIGHT be your water pump that is going.

    I know my AC was going.. but after I replaced the water pump it started working excellent!

    You also might want to think about replacing the thermostat as well.

    Have you tried doing the window defroster with cold air sans A/C?

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    • #3
      The water pump was just replaced as part of the timing belt job, so that's not it.

      Blowing cold air sans AC just made the windows fog up worse.
      "We guard the souls in heaven; we don't horse-trade them!" Samandrial in Supernatural

      RIP Plaidman.

      Comment

      • #4
        The reason it can be low and pass a leak test is that all car a/c systems leak a bit. It's just the nature of the beast. In a home system all the lines are copper and the connections are soldered so they don't leak but in a car you have rubber lines in places and all the connections have rubber o-rings. You also have the drive shaft for the compressor that has a leak prone seal. I don't know the age of your car but with modern cars it isn't uncommon to need the 134a topped off after a number of years. I don't really start to worry until they get to the can a year leak.

        Your pressure test doesn't really tell you much unless the a/c was working when you checked it. Even then they can be misleading.... you need to know the High and Low pressures with the compressor running to have a clue what is going on with the charge.

        Hopefully it will just be a bad connection or a failing pressure switch that is causing your issue. Get an estimate from them first and check around. $200+ to drain and refill was pretty high.

        Comment

        • #5
          it may be something as simple as a failing relay or on the converse it could be a bad pressure switch, had a similar problem with my sisters carola, 15 buck relay and its christmas in her car
          This is a drama-free zone; violators will be slapped. -Irving Patrick Freleigh
          my blog:http://steeledragon.wordpress.com/

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          • #6
            Quoth SteeleDragon78 View Post
            it may be something as simple as a failing relay or on the converse it could be a bad pressure switch, had a similar problem with my sisters carola, 15 buck relay and its christmas in her car
            You know... I forgot about that. Usually if it goes on and goes off.. it's a relay. Have your mechanic take a look at the low pressure side.

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            • #7
              I left a message with the shop this morning, and the owner returned my call personally (like I said, we've been going here for 20+ years, and we're on a first name basis with him). I explained in detail what the issue was, and he promised it would be taken care of.

              Now, I had left a note explaining this in the car, but whoever it was who actually did the work apparently didn't read it. He just knew it was in for A/C trouble, and when the gauges indicated low refrigerant, he figured that was it and did a recharge, but didn't leave it running long enough to trigger the main problem.

              Now that he (the owner) knows, I trust he'll make sure it's dealt with.

              Unfortunately, it won't be going in until Monday, and I have a road trip to CT tomorrow....hopefully it's not too hot.
              "We guard the souls in heaven; we don't horse-trade them!" Samandrial in Supernatural

              RIP Plaidman.

              Comment

              • #8
                They've had the car for two days. The relay tested OK, so they replaced a switch on the compressor which seemed to be malfunctioning. It was around this time that I called to check on it, and he said it seemed to be running OK but that he was going to let it run for antoehr hour or so and test drive it again to make sure.

                Nope....still conking out.

                Turns out the compressor is failing. $650 for a new one, or $175 used (he has some excellent conenctions for good quality used parts). But still, it's going otbe about $425 once the labor is factored in (though he's not charging me to refill the system again).


                Le Sigh.....and I was just starting to see my savings account balance go up again
                "We guard the souls in heaven; we don't horse-trade them!" Samandrial in Supernatural

                RIP Plaidman.

                Comment

                • #9
                  Another $409.89 later, and my AC finally works......

                  Fortunately, he didn't charge me for the diagnostic time or the second recharge. But still.....ouch....
                  "We guard the souls in heaven; we don't horse-trade them!" Samandrial in Supernatural

                  RIP Plaidman.

                  Comment

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