Girlfriends car general A/C question.

[chrisarnt]

So, my new girlfriend says that the guy a firestone said it would cost $1200 to repair her a/c so he disconnected it 2 years ago.

All I heard was the guy at Firestone is trying to rip her off.

I took the car down to Jose who went over the a/c and showed me that the connector wire was ripped out of the compressor.
He shoved it back in and put some liquid electrical tape on it.

It worked for about 25 minutes then shut off.

I can't tell if the compressor is kicking on or not because the motor is really loud and I don't have a helper.

But when I push the a/c button ON the rpm goes up about 150 and down the same when I turn it off.
But still no A/C.

Is this the jump I would see on the RPMs?

And this is not a Volkswagen. But I hope you will be so kind as to advise anyway.

[vwjetboat]

its pretty simple to see if the compressor is turning just by looking at it when its running.. if the center of the pulley on the compressor is not moving when the motor is running .. the compressor is not ON .. if its spinning its on.. .. Why not take back to jose ? sounds like a honest person.. & it sounds like you need a new clutch if the wire is broken going into it..

[chrisarnt]

I don't know why I even posted this.

I know the answer.
I think I needed moral support.

[vwjetboat]

[crsmp5]

ok.. no year of car

so you need a set of gauges.. not just the low side... but a low side will tell if its got nuff freon in it to turn on.. if low it will not..

high side is needed as if its too high as freon over filled started 89ish will prevent ac from working.. else things go pop and let it all out..

so in 82 cars got a temp sensor that kills the ac if below freezing... is it plugged in??

so 3 things off top of head...

$1200 could be the compressor, and assoicated parts/freon as newer compressors manage the high/low pressure sides.. ive blown up a few low side gauges when this aspect fails and the low side pressure = high side pressure... over the past 6 years...

so year/make of car helps even if not vw.. ac is ac.. it all works the same
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[vwjetboat]

if the compressor is kicking on and off.. auto parts store.. 35 bucks get a can of stop leak 134 gauge included on bottle..

[Butcher]

The engine RPM is going up, so the electrics are fine. The compressor wiring is NFG, that needs to be fixed, but most shops are going to recommend to replace the compressor [which usually comes with the clutch].

It's not working, but a much simpler way of wondering if it is, is to grab the low side line/hose. If it's cold, then it's working. If it hot, it's not.

I do not know why you posted here either. May I suggest a forum that specializes in you car. That would be a great start.

[chrisarnt]

thanks for the support.

I posted here because I am on this forum a lot and this is a general question rather than a brand specific question.

So, if the pressure on LOW side is too low the compressor won't even kick on?

Because it worked for 20 minutes, but then stopped.
When I went to check the pressure it was low, but it didnt seem to be accepting any refrigerant.
I thought the can was empty because the pressure wasn't going up, but then when I went to change the can it released about a 2/3 of the can.. Pshhh... Fwish...
So maybe I should try another new can and see what happens.
The other one was partially used on my Subaru.

[vwjetboat]

sounds like you did not have something tight on the charge hose.. what kind of set up ? one of the diy gauges on the can ?

[crsmp5]

OR NOW ITS OVER FILLED AND THE HIGH PRESSURE SWITCH TURNS IT OFF... this is also why it can work for 20 min then stop as the piece in compressor fails that drops the low side pressure to the low pressure... why you need to read both low and high pressure
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[crsmp5]

also.. it will not suck freon in if the compressor does not turn on...

fyi... biglots... r134 tends to be 5-8$ a can... if on sale 5.. normal is 8..
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[Butcher]

I would stop adding refrigerant and decide if you want to study how the system works, then fix it yourself or live with what you got. You already made a decision that a professional costs too much. You mentioned they were ripping you off, but you have no clue what's wrong either so it's hard for me to understand how you can prove that.

You need to make some tests to find out what's up. You're assuming way to much to make a solid decision and you are asking a bunch of people here that have no clue about the car too.

It's highly unlikely that it has too much pressure. If you did, once the compressor shuts off, the pressure will drop and the system will turn on again. It's highly likely that the compressor wiring is still NFG.

I'm not picking on you, but you just need to stand back and ask yourself if it looks odd that you are asking a bunch of people that have no clue how your car works, what's wrong. Garbage in Garbage out.

[chrisarnt]

[chrisarnt]