I am having trouble with my A/C working. I can here also sorts of noises of components working when I turn the A/C on but it only blows out hot air. I have a 96 contour ATX Zetec. I had someone try and add r134 to it and he said it would not take it. He did not have a pressure gauge on it when he tried to add it. I am not familar with the procedure and thought he knew what he was doing but I am having my doubts. I was wondering if I should go ahead and try some myself? How do I test the compressor or the compressor clutch. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated because I have spent countless hours searching fopr little answers and hope this great site can get my problems solved AGAIN!!
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For $20 you can get the refrigerant with gauge from Autozone or Advance. Instructons are on the can on how to use it. Basically, remove the cap on the refrigerant line near the battery side and plug it in. Note this is only if you suspect that your warm air is due to low refrigerant.
Edit. Nate S 3.0
The cap is to the left of the yellow clip for the hood rod.
For one R134 doesnt just go away, if your system needs a recharge you have a leak, it may be a small one but you have a leak.
The person who tried to put in r134 said that the compressor clutch was not kicking on to take the r134. Does this sound right? How do I test the compressor or compressor clutch? I have searched but found very little.
Well for one you dont add the R134 to the compressor, you add using the service ports.
Secondly lots of things can cause the compressor to go bad, reed valves inside will fail, the bearings on the pullies lock up.
One way to find problems using is an AC system is very easy an accurate and I know you have the tool, infact your using it right now. Your hands. Hot/warm/colc/cold. Line from the compressor to condensor should be hot, line from condensor to reciever/drier should be warm, line from receiver/drier to evaportor, cold, and evap. to compressor should be cool.
Theres your place to start, if you touch the line from the compressor to condensor and its cold, or cool, your compressor is shot to crap.
hope that helps
http://www.ackits.com/ Go to their forums. Ask questions there, You'll get a quick reply.
Usually if the compressor clutch isn't engageing means the system is really low on 134A. You have a leak somewhere. If you just want to add some 134A, you will need to disconnect the connector to the accumulator and put a jumper wire in the harness connector that plugs into the accumulator. This should make the compressor clutch kick in so you can add the 134A. If you are this low though, the oil in the system also goes away and you could have a dammaged compressor.
That is true to, if the high side or low pressure is to low the computer wont allow the compressor to turn on. If the compressor doesnt have any refridgent in it and runs, it will be junk.
Is the accumulator located between the battery and the driver side headlight? What is the switch I jump, the electrical plug? I was also wondering if the compressor was located near the bottom of the car? Are the hoses with the high and low pressure testers where I should be feeling for hot and cold lines? I did not find any hot lines but the one coming up from bottom on the passenger side and into the front of the radiator was a little warmer than the rest. I also thought I could here some intermitten clicking off and on from what I assume is the compressor, does this mean it is cycling? How high of a pressure gauge do I need to test the system. I have read numbers from 24 to 400 psi, will the pressure gauge that comes with the r134 kit be good enough to test the high and low pressure?
Originally posted by hoger29:
Is the accumulator located between the battery and the driver side headlight? What is the switch I jump, the electrical plug? I was also wondering if the compressor was located near the bottom of the car? Are the hoses with the high and low pressure testers where I should be feeling for hot and cold lines? I did not find any hot lines but the one coming up from bottom on the passenger side and into the front of the radiator was a little warmer than the rest. I also thought I could here some intermitten clicking off and on from what I assume is the compressor, does this mean it is cycling? How high of a pressure gauge do I need to test the system. I have read numbers from 24 to 400 psi, will the pressure gauge that comes with the r134 kit be good enough to test the high and low pressure?
I dont know what the spec is for the Contour, but normally low side 20-40psi, and high side 150-300 psi. Again every car is different, I no longer own a Contour so I dont know.
The accumlator is a big gray metal tube thing, located between the evaportor and the compressor.
If the compressor is cycling on and off, almost all of the time it is low on refridgent.
My compressor is cycling on and off every few seconds. I bought one of those recharge cans with the pressure gauge attached, because I assumed it was low. When I hook up the line, the reading varies from about 25 to 45 (compressor engages at 25, shuts off at 45... this happens every few seconds). I don't want to add any refrigerant, since the pressure is where it should be. What should I check next?
http://www.ackits.com/
Go here and spend some time reading up on the subject, in the automobile A/C forums. Ask questions here, there is a guy named Chick who usuallly answers any questions quickly.
Do you mean on at 45 and off below 25, you have low R134A. Make sure it's warm out when testing (probably is where you are
). The pressure drops at first and stabilizes when the compressor runs. If it drops too fast and too low the switch in the accumulator will turn off the compressor. Then the pressure rises and the compressor will run again, and go off quickly...
There's a pressure switch on top of the accumulater, it could be bad. My A/C had the same symptoms and it was that switch. It costs about $15.
If the compressor clutch is short-cycling the switch is fine. The refrigerant is just low. Whent he cycling switch fails, it usually causes a no-engagement condition.
With the system OFF, underhood temp at around 60-80F, you should show around 70 psi or so (static pressure). This pressure changes with the ambient, so it will be hight if the under-hood area is hot or lower if it's cold.
Steve
Originally posted by projectSHO89:
With the system OFF, underhood temp at around 60-80F, you should show around 70 psi or so (static pressure).
Thanks, does that refer to the high side?
Hey, when mine was short cycling, it turned out to be a wiring problem. Just a thought.
Originally posted by Viss1:
Originally posted by projectSHO89:
With the system OFF, underhood temp at around 60-80F, you should show around 70 psi or so (static pressure).
Thanks, does that refer to the high side?
When the system is static, the pressure is the same everywhere in the system...
As for a "wiring harness problem" causing compressor short-cyling, I'd have to see the exact failure mode in order to explain that idea.
Steve
Thanks again for the responses. Static pressure was around 30. Outside temp was about 75, underhood probably a little higher. Keep in mind that I'm just going by what the gauge on the can says, so it might not be accurate.
The compressor no longer engages at all. I'm thinking whatever R134 was left in the system escaped when I tried to add some the other day.
Seems to me it's probably a leak, since the compressor was operating fine the other day. Is there some way I can add R134 now though just to see if the compressor will operate again?
The pressure supplied by the can is what will re-engage the cycling switch. The switch should close at around 45 psi ascending.
Pick up a can of R134a with V dye so you can find the probable leak. Throw a can of that into it and then inspect all the plumbing with a UV light paying particular attention to all the fittings.
Steve
Watch for bubbles around the threaded base of the service valve where you put in the 134. Problem spot for me (until I get around to fixing it and check for leaks with the dye and a refrigerant sniffer bought on ebay
. Also, the accumulator might have rusted out behind the foam rubber, happened on our other Mystique.
Well, looks like I got lucky. Brought it to the dealer to diagnose. They recharged and added some dye. A/C started working with the recharge, and no leaks found. We'll see if the issue crops up again. Might just be the fact that it hadn't been recharged since it was built 9 years ago
Well, we're back to warm air. Returned it to the dealer, and they claim it's leaking from both the compressor and accumulator. Looking at fordpartsonline, a compressor is around $252 and they don't list an accumulator. They list a drier (for about $80). Are those terms used interchangeably now?
My Mystique's a/c is doing the same thing. Currently, my theory is the compressor o-rings were bad and the clamp bolt was not sealed properly. I will be testing it soon... The accumulator is sometimes called a filter/drier. That thing can rust out, you might see oil residue on the foam liner around it. At least up here in NY, there is a little time to fix it before I need it..
My cycling switch failed a few years back - it short cycled. When I replaced it the compressor ran 3 times as much and the system got cooler faster. A few months later the relay that drives the compressor clutch died. I could hear the system try to come on but the compressor failed to engage.