Jetlag

Hey,

I just got my A/C recharged with some R12 and it was working okey on the first day. The first day that I had it recharged, I would turn it on and it would blow some cold air with some loud belt slip sound(squeal). I asked the tech if the belt was loose and he said that I may have a bad a/c compressor. I paid the guy for the recharge and left the shop.
Fast forward to yesterday, i was driving on the I15north and the ambient temp was like 88-90. The a/c was blowing soo cold that i had to turn it off for the fear of freezing my nuts off. I turned it on then off when needed and everything was fine. Oh, freezing on all fan speed.

Today, is about the same temp as yesturday. So, I go and turn o my a/c and I get nothing but loud squeal. Some cold air would come out but it seem to go on then off. When I pop the hood, I notice that the A/C clutch engage then disengage. What would be the cause of this probelm? I've search the forum for a/c clutch and comressor but still couldn't find anything that relates to my problem.

It's freakin hot out here in the I.E. and would like some suggestions.

Thanks, jay

JConn2299

The first thing I would try is turning the A/C temp dial to a slightly warmer setting. Compressors will shut themselves off to prevent freezing up. Turn off recirculation button and maybe set the temp dial slightly higher. See if that works.

I also find it hard to believe the squealing isn't some sort of problem. Tighten the belt and check to see if it's too worn. If for some reason the bearings in the compressor are bad the thing is going to go anyway so there's not much you can do.

It's also possible they overcharged the system and put in too much freon. I've heard of that happening and it could produce the same symptoms. In fact, it was me who did it to myself (on another car). Eventually one one of my A/C hoses blew out with a loud bang.

I'd take it back to the guy and tell him another A/C expert ( a stretch of the truth, to say the least) told you the system has been overcharged. Ask him how much he put in. (The charge in lbs. should be on a sticker on the hood of your car.) If he doesn't know or gives you the wrong answer tell him he needs to redo the procedure, including a system evacuation, or at least check the system again.

Jetlag

I've already tighten the belt thinking that it was tight enough. The squeal went away but the a/c compressor continue to cycle on/off and the clutch never engage. No cold air. I don't know how many pound of r12 the guy put in?? It was just some hole in the wall auto repair shop.

jay

axr6

First, you did not mention WHY you needed a recharge? Was it becaue of a disconnected hose or was it because of a leak?

If you had a leak, was it fixed? I am saying this because if you do not have enough refrigerant pressure in the system the compressor clutch will either cycle ON-OFF fast or won't even come on. Is it possible that you already lost much of the refrigerant to a leak?

Albert

Jetlag

The a/c was discharge along time ago due to my FMIC install. I had the a/c guy put in some dye prior to my recharge and none has leaked. So, too little or too much R12 will cause the compressor to cycle?

Albert, did you ever have any ignition break up at 10.5+psi on the M2 ECU? From 3rd or 4th gear my car would pull like an ape until it hit 10.5psi then it wouldn't pull beyond that. I've set my EVC to 12psi and only get up to 10.5? It just stumble and I can hear popping sound, and no more boost. No, my car is not pinging from lack of fuel, this thing runs pig rich. I have a MDS 6A installed already, what do you think could be the problem?
Jay

JConn2299

Too little pressure will cause the compressor not to engage. Don't know if an overcharge will do the same. On another car of mine an overcharge caused a squeal and then a hose blew out. But you say it's still blowing cold....too cold, in fact, so that's why I don't think it's underfilled.
Hole in the wall places don't do well with sophisticated systems like the A/C. IMO, the system should always be completely evacuated before a recharge to get all the moisture out.
I'd take it to a good shop with the right equipment and have them check it.

Jetlag

Well, it's not blowing any kind of cold air due to the fact the the compressor clutch will not engage...but when it does, it's freakin cold.

poss

iTrader: (5)

This is my guess.

bajaman

JConn has the right of it all thru this thread. Good advice.
This:

I've already tighten the belt thinking that it was tight enough. The squeal went away but the a/c compressor continue to cycle on/off and the clutch never engage. No cold air. I don't know how many pound of r12 the guy put in?? It was just some hole in the wall auto repair shop.

doesn't make sense. The a/c compressor 'cycles' by engaging and disengaging the clutch. SO if the clutch never engaged, the compressor could not cycle.

Too high and/or too low pressure will cause the a/c system to not work, there are high and low pressure cut-out switches. There are a number of things that can cause the problems that are being described, and honestly you simply have to go to a GOOD shop to get them fixed.

axr6

Jay

I have a leak in one of my other vehicles and the clutch engagages-disengages almost non-stop. When I add refrigerant, the cycling will stop and I get normal operation.

The M2 ECU was in the car when I got it and was in for the previous owner for 12K miles, according to the records I got. I used it exactly for a single day, when I blew my engine on the very first day of my ownership. As I found out later when I got a new engine, boost gauge, PFC and a wideband, it was the stock fuel pump, not supplying sufficient fuel at high RPMs at the assumed 12-13 psi boost of the M2 ECU.

I had no ways of knowing the boost it was putting out as the car did not have a boost gauge when purhased. All I can say for certain that during my test drive and the long trip to home after the purchase, the car pulled strong and smooth all the way to the redline in both 3rd and 4th, which suggests that the ECU was fine. I did make probably a good 6-10 pulls to the redline in those attemps and there were no signs of ignition or any other problems. My problems came when the next day I started opening up the stock exahust and the fuel pump failed me.

Albert

r1owner

My FD will run A/C just fine in steady state driving....

When I come to a stop the compressor will come on for about 1 second before disengaging then waiting about 15-30 seconds before trying again....

The weird thing is if the car seems to have been run for a while, the compressor will stay engaged at a stop.