2G A/C blowing warm air

[Turbolence56]

I have search a bunch on this forum about people’s a/c system blowing warm air, mine is starting to do that as well. 97 eclipse gsx with 6 bolt swap.

things I know work.
Green a/c cold button on dash lights up.
All fan speeds and mods work,
Heater works but when switching dial to cold, just blows regular air.
all fans speeds work

in engine bay.

drivers side fan on all the time, passenger side fan comes on and off ( which is what I believe is supposed to happen).

new a/c compressor - and new condenser. (Previous owner stated these were new) they look new-ish

new a/c / power steering belt, Delco.

now on to the symptoms.
A/c blows warm air, a few weeks ago when I bought this car it was cold, not freezing cold but much colder than now. The a/c - PS belt squeaks on start up and is louder if I have the a/c on full blast when I start the vehicle.

I haven’t checked the relays but all fuses looked ok. Will check them again though.

I believe the ac clutch is engaging as the car idles up off and on at times and the passenger fan goes on sometimes. Car also has Freon and charged I assume since new compressor and condenser.

Im stumped at the moment and any help would be appreciated. I’m leaning towards a really being bad or clutch not engaging. What say you guys.

thanks for the help
Micah

 

[1990TSIAWDTALON]

Can you see the clutch engaging and spinning, not just sitting idle? It should be spinning when the A/C is on. That said, the car should have a low pressure and high pressure cutoff switch somewhere on the lines, which do just what they say. If it has to high of pressure it shuts off the compressor, likewise if it has low or no pressure it keeps the compressor from kicking on and ruining it. I would check the unit out with a set of gauges and see what pressure you have on the low and high sides (they are a bi*** to get to, one is on the compressor itself I think).
You should have around 30-40 psi low side and 250+ high side. Those are just random numbers I use when I am charging up one of my cars.

 

[pauleyman]

Two key words in this post. I assume.
If you don't have the ability to put gauges on it yourself I would have somebody do it.

Bigger clue is it just had new components but when you got it ac was only marginal? It probably has a leak and now it's not working at all

 

[Red Rider]

1) No refrigerant (#1 suspect)
2) frozen expansion valve, less likely as you would get some initial cooling
3) Clutch inop, hi/lo switch controlled, see above posts
4) Compressor or clutch defective
5) Bad shaft seal, leads to #1 (very common)

Gauges are the lifeblood of this. Check the pressure on the low side when the system is at ambient temps. If no pressure, you have no refrigerant. If you have pressure, turn the system on and see if you get a vacuum. If you get a vacuum, see if the sight glass shows any liquid.

And yes, it's best to have both high and low sides on gauges if you're going to recharge.

If you have no pressure, vacuum the system and check for leaks. If you have leaks, pressurize the system and find the leaks with detector/soap solution/ears

As you can see, this isn't an easy DIY without some study and the right tools.

 

[Turbolence56]

Thanks for reply’s guys, yeah I’m going to look at the compressor and see if the clutch is engaging, I don’t have gauges so no way to tell if the pressure is to low or to high. I can maybe get some or take it to someone to check. Unsure if the previous owner had taken it to a shop or not to get those parts installed. Assuming things gets me nowhere so I’m going to check those parts.

i take it I should look at the compressor clutch first as that’s the easy part and see if it’s engaging.

if the pressure is to low or to high the clutch won’t engage right?

if the clutch is not engaging then most likely a leak some where? Causing low Freon and low pressure?

anything else to look for before hooking up gauges?

red rider, I see that now. Hence most people just grab a can of r134 or gut the whole system as they don’t have the knowledge, patients or tools or all 3 to do the job correctly. It’s bigger then I initially thought. How much are the gauges?

 

[pauleyman]

If you don't have any training ac work is dangerous. I'm not even a fan if those hookup cans at autonparts stores but at least they can't hookup to the high side. Know what you're doing if you buy and hookup gauges.

 

[1990TSIAWDTALON]

Leak dye can be used here as in most HVAC situations to find any leaks with a Ultra-violet (black) light. I have seen some freon with dye in it already, so you could grab a UV light and look around all of the system with it (in the dark or a dark place) and the leak will show up bright yellow/green under UV because I do have a feeling that it has lost its charge.

 

[Red Rider]

The DIY recharge kits are OK if all you have is a very slow loss though the shaft seal and everything else is good.

If the system pressure is too low, the low switch will have already cut in and the clutch will not engage.
If the system pressure gets too high, the clutch will initially engage, system build pressure, and then click off as the high switch activates.

You can buy a recharge can with a gauge on the can. If all you have is a vey slow leak, it might work, or it might work for a month and slowly leak out. If you have a bad compressor or a major leak, it wont work.

If you go that route, read all instructions and do not over charge the system.

 

[Turbolence56]

I see good old harbor freight has a set of r134 gauges for 62$ that’s not terrible. Hmmm might have to go pick up a set if I want to figure this out correctly. If freon is low how do I get freon in. Do I need something special? Or is it as simple as hooking up a r134 can and turning o the ac to “suck it back in” so to speak.

thanks for the information red rider. I will look into those options. I have had many vehicles lose a/c via a leak so it def feels like low freon or no freon. I just haven’t really looked into it fully yet. Don’t want to over pressurize the system so I’m going to have to get gauges to make sure that doesn’t happen… again thanks for all the help guys!

 

[Red Rider]

If the system has been at zero pressure for a while, or has a bad shaft seal, you might have enough moisture in the system to cause problems. Then you need to bring it down to zero pressure with a vacuum pump and boil out the water.

Just be aware there are lots of roads you may go down that may need more expensive tooling.

A set of gauges has a valve manifold that connects to the refrigerant can.

 

[1990TSIAWDTALON]

Get some R12 adaptors that pop on then you screw them down to tighten the fitting. I have found them very handy although the high side has a lot of pressure and is always "fun" to get off of its fitting.

Gauge set
Vacuum pump if you have an air compressor. This is what I use and it does work, will pull 28hg of vacuum.
I had to get Adaptor fittings since my gauge set was made for
R12.

 

[pauleyman]

I see good old harbor freight has a set of r134 gauges for 62$ that’s not terrible. Hmmm might have to go pick up a set if I want to figure this out correctly. If freon is low how do I get freon in. Do I need something special? Or is it as simple as hooking up a r134 can and turning o the ac to “suck it back in” so to speak.

I would at least look at some youtube pages before proceeding. Not knowing how things work can be bad. Blow up a can of freon on your face. To do the work properly you need gauges, and a vacuum pump.

 

[Turbolence56]

Thanks guys for the info!