Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives Forums General Troubleshooting A/C Cycles on and off rapidly

Hi, I'm a newbie in learning mode here. Awesome site!

I have a '98 Contour ES with the 2.0 Zetec and when the air conditioner is on and the car is idling everything sounds great. However, when driving down the highway at 55-60 mph, I can feel a real noticeable decrease in power that only lasts for 5 to 10 seconds, then it goes back to normal for 5 to 10 seconds, then I feel it again. This happens non-stop. When I shut off the A/C, the car drives smoothly again. When the car is stopped with the motor running and the A/C on and I rev it to about 2,000 rpms (I'm guessing-no tach), I can hear just what I'm feeling on the highway. Compressor cycles on for 5,6, or 7 seconds, off for 5,6, or 7 seconds, on, off, on, off, etc. repeatedly.

Is this normal? I realize the decrease in power is from the compressor cycling on, but it seems a little excessive, and way too frequent. Not only is it somewhat annoying while driving on the highway, but I'm worried about burning out my compressor, or something. Anyone have any ideas?

Your R134 is too low. You'll need a little over 2 cans. Get the kit at your local auto parts place. It will come with 1 can of lubricant, the pressure guage, 1 can of R134 and the hose. Just follow the instructions. Your A/C needs to be running when you do this BTW.

Thanks for the quick reply, todras! Keeping in mind that I'm basically a retard when it comes to this, when you say "a little over two cans" of R134 and one can comes with each kit, I'm assuming I need to get three kits. Is that right?

You might want to just take it in, you can get your A/C charged for really cheap plus they can check for leaks which you may very well have if you are really low.

Ya know, 99SVT, after re-reading my last post , I'm thinking that might not be such a bad idea. Don't want to hurt myself...

I'd try with a $50 kit. A/C repair is not cheap! Anything at any shop is not cheap.

Most auto supply stores, Walmarts, & KMarts sell A/C kits for $25. If you need another can of R134a, they are about $4-5 each.

The kit should look similar to

sounds like you are low on R-134A.... i had my a/c system blow the high pressure service valve and lost the freon.. i got a $19.95 hose set(with one gauge on it) from auto zone and two cans of R-134A at about $6.00 per can at auto zone and put a new valve on and charged it up and that was about two months ago.. no problems since and it is pretty cold...

After just doing this in my Mustang, make sure you get a hose kit that has the metal connectors. Not like the plactic one pictured. As soon as I put mine on the valve and the pressure hit, the plastic connector split in 3 pieces. Its real easy, so do it yourself