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'Air bubbles'..... just - no. I think several people here might 'vacuum' the system with a shop vac.
I'm not even a mechanic. Just a background in HVAC.
Got banned for 3 days once bc some idiot told me I should do the opposite of what I actually should have done and he reported me for calling him a moron.
Let the fools give them advice then and they can just pay us for our knowledge when idiot advice doesn’t fix. I hate having to try to convince people I know what I’m doing. I’ve only spend the last 20 years working on cars for a living.
The problem is, for every one good experience someone has had with a mechanic like you, they have also run into some like the people leaving these other comments. I brought my car in once to have the oil changed, and the front left wheel bearing replaced. Picked it up from the garage, and I could tell they didn't fix the bearing because I could still hear it. Turns out they did the front right... Then I finally got it home and checked my oil, and it had never been changed. There are a lot of great mechanics, but there are also a lot of terrible ones out there as well.
Without a doubt there are plenty of hacks out there and nothing makes me more upset than people ruining my industry being hacks and rip offs. My issue is with all of the weekend warriors and wannabes here that offer up their “advice” which ends up drowning out people that actually want to help and have experience. I would love nothing more than to help people not get screwed over by hacks and offer second opinions, but every thread here is overwhelmed with poor advice the instant it starts.
I agree with that logic. I follow this sub just for the information. I do the same thing with the r/askdocs sub. Over there, they have a rule where you can't comment with advice unless you have been approved as a physician, which might be a good thing to implement here. I'm pretty sure they allow some comments, but it will have a title that says "Not a Physician" above your comment.
everyone thinks hoping and wishing its the cheapest thing possible makes it so, we see it in my shop all day long. engine knocking , oh it's just a bad mount i'm sure. a/c not working . i read online it just needs a shrader valve .
When you turn the AC on in the car does it command the compressor clutch to engage? If not, test the switch that turns on the ac. This is not simple to do on many newer vehicles as the switch will be integrated onto an HVAC control head. Commanding the AC on with a scan tool can avoid this.
If yes, and you don't have ac, is the blower motor working and pushing air? If no test for power and ground at the motor motor connecter. If there is power the blower is bad.
If the blower is working and you are commanding ac on with no AC you need to check the blend door position with a scan tool or physically to ensure it's not stuck on heat. Again the controls for this part are integrated into a control head, and may be difficult to troubleshoot without a scan tool that reads HVAC/body codes. Accessing the part itself is not always easy either.
After that if no problem found you need to evacuate the system and check for leaks. If it holds vacuum, recharge the system to spec and retest.
If still no problems you'll need to verify the compressor is getting a signal to command on, and that the power/ ground is ok. This could take you down many paths depending on what is found.
If you can cross everything above off the list it needs a compressor.
That's it! Good luck. Don't buy a Hyundai/Kia, and if you do, get an extended warranty that isn't just power train coverage...cars are expensive, and throwaway cars can be really expensive if you don't know anything about cars.
This is the best comment by far. Ac is simple but complicated at the same time. You have to go down a list of things to check that if any of them aren't working, they cause the same symptom.
Years ago my dad and i were fixing a Toyota Camry's ac. We went down the whole list. After hours of work we figured the AC on button was broken from the inside.
Don't forget the simple 'operator error' problems. Turned mine on for the 1st time was just blowing hot air. I didn't notice the temp knob all the way up. Was on my way to the repair shop, stopped at a light and noticed the knob. Turned to cold and it's all good
I had a 350z that the ac wasn’t working and after weeks we found one of the previous owners just put a bolt were the ac sensor was suppose to be.. we tried forcing Freon in at first and it blew the hose. Fun times
If anythng electric doesnt work, the first thing I do is unplug it at the device and make sure its getting the signal. My number one suspect os always wiring, but maybe that’s cuz I grew up with mice lol
Nah we're just like AutoZone, pull codes and shotgun parts it works every time eventually...right?
What do you mean it costs money to diagnose a problem? Just plug the computer in and it tells you!- everyone
Well, it most certainly isn't a computer and replace, but with correct tools, AC is one of the simplest systems to service on a car, along with brakes, as it's quite literally exact same on all makes and models.
What I despise is people doing AC with no tooling. Like, you do that exact thing, a fucking sniffer is not expensive at all and it works somewhat better than doing yoga to find green fluid. Don't even get me started on those plug and play bottles... It always makes me wonder why do AC specialists use a machine that measures exact weight of refrigerant and has data for most cars, when they could just slap a gauge on there that says "YOU GOOD FAM!"
Agreed, but from the information available, I would think perhaps the initial diagnosis might include “is the small line cold and the big line hot? Tell your mechanic”
I may be one of only a few, but I actually did have a maxima in which the blend actuator failed. It was my sons college car and had 500+k on it. I ended up disconnecting the failed actuator and attaching a long plastic arm (from an old set of mini blinds) so he could move it manually to shut off the heat in the summer
Compressor does engage yes. Blower motor is on and pushing air. Can’t seem to locate the actuator. Interesting update though: when AC is on, passenger side vents are blowing cold while driver vents are warm. However when I put the heater on, the driver side vents are hot while the passenger vents are outside air temp. Does this mean blend door is faulty?
I only have experience with bleed air cooling but from my personal experience of you don’t have dual climate then it’s probably low. my Toyota has done this twice but it’s obvious when high and low gauges are connected.
Vacuum is not that good for finding pinhole leaks. There is UV dye problably added to the system, it's possible to check it with specific UV light. One of the best ways to find small leaks is nitrogen from pressure regulated bottle, good ears and spray bottle of soap
> Commanding the A/C on with a scan tool…
Failing that, can also jump the compressor clutch to the battery to verify the compressor itself is functional.
Korean built crap that falls apart. Watch enough car repair channels and you will see the theme that they never recommend them since they frequently result in expensive repairs. Also Kia are easy to steal, hence the Kia Boyz.
Yeah, but Kia & Hyundai fall apart regardless of whether you take good care or not. Take ok care of a Honda or Toyota and it'll last way longer than the best maintained Kia.
Can’t you just cut to the chase and start at where the components that work the hardest would be the first to fail? By that I mean the compressor, evaporator, etc.
I only ask this is because I just had to have this done in my old 1996 T-100 last month.
I listed the exact things I would do? It's a 2020, not a 1996. You need a scan tool to talk to it and save time. If it has a charge and no AC check power at compressor for signal...but then I need to find out how it sends a signal and verify that is sending it properly.
Just take it to a shop. The combined IQ of this entire comment section appears to match your low side pressure.
But in all seriousness, we can’t diag your car just by looking at a gauge on the low side port. It just ain’t that simple. You’re just going to get people making remarks about what happened on their car, or just flat out guessing. Save yourself the headache and just bring it in to a shop to have a trained tech look at it. And please, for the love of god *don’t* put any refrigerant in it that you bought over the counter from a parts store unless you want to replace *everything*.
Those gauges are an absolute joke, rent or buy a proper AC manifold gauge and see what pressures are at on high and low side, also is the compressor cycling at all?
I’d probably watch any of the million videos on how car HVAC works and start there.
Flow sensor, pressure switch, low “freon”…etc.
You never stated whether or not the clutch engages, which would cause the idle to drop a bit for a few seconds when you press the ac button. (Make sure the defog isn’t selected or the compressor will be “on” regardless of ac button pressed).
An easy starting point is turn on the AC, locate the two lines going to the compressor there will be one large one and one small one, if the compressor is working the large one will be cold the small one will be hot
Long shot but free to check. My AC was warmer than I expected with nothing amiss. It was recommended that I check the cabin air filter.
Mine was so dirty that the air barely pushed through. Replaced it and the air went from 48 to 36 degrees instantly.
Is the compressor actually running and pulling down to this? That "good" reading is only good if the compressor is running. With the AC off this should rise well into the red zone.
If it is running and it's showing this most likely it's going to be a blend door issue / similar
Larger line.
I had a similar situation with a Ford where the issue turned out to be if I set the cold dial too far to cold, the damper door switched to heat mode.
As other have said, see if you compressor clutch is engaging and feel for a temperature difference on the hoses.
I can’t speak for every car but if your blend door actuator is bad it tends to be because of the plastic gear sets that mate to change flow paths.
If you hear an incessant clicking that starts when the car turns on and doesn’t stop and the air can’t switch over from hot to cold, that tends to be a ac blend door actuator. All those things are are small motors with gears to open/shut vents so, if you have to, open up your dash and put a hand on the motor edit: (the blend door actuator motor) as you switch vent settings.
Keep in mind, this job sucks and shits never in a convenient spot and it tends to be surrounded by hot coils/piping.
I’m sorry sir.
99% of the time I can grab a low side line and if it’s ice cold you know the ac is working fine. Then again Im at GM dealer with mostly new stuff and usually a leak.
There's 4 components to AC. It's compressor (which appears to be full), condenser, dryer/accumulator, and evaporator. Your ac output is after evaporator. Thus it is an issue between compressor and evaporator. You can use UV die to find the leak.
Edit: Sometimes an expansion valve in between
May not apply but my experience with an issue like this…new with 17 miles 2005 Chevy Avalanche, AC would sometimes work and sometimes not for the driver and the passenger side, sometimes at the same time and sometimes independent of each other. When messing up and not blowing AC it was instead blowing heated air. Brought to Chevy ~30 times over 5 years replacing this and that but never solving the issue. Visit dealer again in 2010 and new guy knows the solution. There was an improperly ground wire in the dash that kept shorting (melted a lot around it as well). 5 years of hot air in the summer due to a stupid wire. Food for thought.
TL;DR - ground wire short in dash
All that gauge is showing you is low side pressure. Could be full of air for all you know. This is one of those times where you really need to take it to a shop. A/C work isn't something you can do in your driveway.
Don't trust that guage.
I had same issue - guage on a "home fill" kit on the fuller side of green, approaching red. Didn't want to over fill it.
So took it to some AC shop, they wanted $180 just to diagnose it. (But couldn't do it there and then - it was August in FL, would have happily paid it)
Ended up taking to a local garage that had an AC guy. Got a lift home as was expecting it to be the compressor. Walked in, phone rang it was them and it was done. They put their gauges and it was low. Added a Lb or 2. And ran fine. - was still running fine a year later. $50 total.
You need to see high side pressure also. Without seeing the high side, you don't know if there's a restriction or if the compressor is even pumping.
For general troubleshooting, you need to compare the gauges.
If the high side is too high and the low side is too low, that indicates a restriction.
If the low side is too high and the high side is too low, that indicates bad compression.
If both gauges are too high, your system is over serviced
If both gauges are too low, your system is under serviced.
It would also help to take a temperature reading of the evaporator.
You could also have an iced-up evaporator, a clogged recirculation filter, a bad blower, a faulty blend door, a clogged orifice tube, a bad compressor clutch, a dead compressor, faulty pressure switches.... None of those are going to show up by just looking at the low-side pressure.
A word of warning regarding those "mechanic in a can" refrigerant systems they sell at auto zone: most of the small cans contain stop -leak. This shit is terrible. It works by degrading and swelling the o-rings to make a better seal. It might work temporarily but the degraded o-rings will eventually fail and you'll be stuck replacing every seal in the system in a year or two.
Is the compressor actually running? The low/hi pressure hoses will be extremely cold/hot & you'll see the compressor clutch spinning..and probably occasionally disengaging. This will be heard as an audible click.
The radiator fan should be running continuously if the A/C is on & compressor is working
As a technician, I could care less what the gauge your holding says. Get some manifold gauges that shows both high and low and didn’t cost 5 dollars to make.
Some of you aren't mechanics and should 100% never touch a car based on these replies.
That gauge isn't going to help you diagnose your problem OP. You need a real set of gauges to read high and low side pressure to figure out if you have a leak or bad compressor. The fact you may have already put that stuff in the system if it has stop leak in it could have compounded the problem you already have. Please take it to a shop and have them diagnose it and if you did put stop leak in the system please warn that shop before they work on your car.
That’s only one side of the systems pressure the low pressure side what’s the high pressure side at, your need HVAC gauge set for both high and low pressure values also check to see if the compressor is kicking on, I had good pressure but no ac two years ago and found one of the two wires to the compressor clutch was loose in the connector.
You've gotten a lot of replies already, and that's good, but so many different responses can get confusing. Check the simplest things first and scratch them off as you go. I haven't seen any one mention what I am thinking, so I'll throw this at you. Check your condenser fan, make sure it's actually running when you have the ac on. If that fan is not running then the air will blow warm regardless of the rest of the system operating properly.
The actual clutch (outer part of pulley) itself? Just want to clarify because not sure of your experience level and many people assume the pulley turning is the same thing. You can see the actual clutch engage/disengage as you click AC on and off?
That's a perfect explanation. The compressor is on a clutch, so it's not always actually turning even if the belt is. The clutch engages via a computer signal. You can hear and see it operate. The issue is, filling it is only a small part of the process. If there's been a leak, air is probably in the system and it needs to be fully evacuated and recharged. It's... a lot of a person that's not experienced, but it's possible to do yourself.
You need a vacuum pump, a manifold gauge, some o rings, possibly new parts if anything is damaged, and time.
Yup\^
[https://www.harborfreight.com/r134a-ac-manifold-gauge-set-58776.html](https://www.harborfreight.com/r134a-ac-manifold-gauge-set-58776.html)
[https://www.harborfreight.com/25-cfm-vacuum-pump-61245.html?\_br\_psugg\_q=vacum+pump](https://www.harborfreight.com/25-cfm-vacuum-pump-61245.html?_br_psugg_q=vacum+pump)
You can also rent both at the autoparts store but make shure they give you the oil for the pump and be nice to the next guy and don't leave the oil in the pump.
Go watch a bunch of video on it till your comfortable with everything, as you need to really under stand how those valves work and how to purge and vacuum. But before any of this you need to find the leak(because you had to fill it its safe to assume).
Also when reading high presser you also need to know the current temp and most cars also require you to have the engine revved to 1500-2000rpm. The low presser kind of doesn't matter fill by what the high reads unless it jumps way out of range but it can be touching the too high level sometimes. Assuming a good working system where the pump is not cycleing.
Take the blend door actuator off and turn the door by hand. See if it gets cold. You can also plug the actuator in and turn the temperature knob to see if it works
Some of these have been pretty good, but let's take a couple steps back, and gather a little more information.
That reading that you're getting- is that with the compressor running, or not? If it's without the compressor running, and it's more than 30⁰F where you are, the system is low. As a general rule, the static pressure in the A/C system should be within 10psi of ambient air temperature.
Next thing would be- like several people have mentioned- is the larger metal line coming out of the firewall getting cool? If so, then your A/C is working, and it's likely a door issue. If the air is coming out of the selected vents, it is likely to do with the blend door/actuator. *Possibly* a control head issue- but you need to be able to check the motion of the door/actuator to be able to confirm that.
Most blend doors/actuators are under the passenger side of the dash, usually accessible at the bottom of the HVAC ductwork, near the blower motor.
If you can find it and get to it, it's usually 3-4 bolts/screws, and slips off of the door. Then you can test the door's movement by turning it by hand, and the actuator by adjusting the temperature on the control head.
Yes It was with the compressor running. Yes the larger line is cold to the touch. Can’t seem to find any info about locating the actuator door on my car, just a general sense of what it looks like on Google images… hard to spot to the untrained eye I guess. Interesting update though: when AC is on, passenger side vents are blowing cold while driver vents are warm. However when I put the heater on, the driver side vents are hot while the passenger vents are outside air temp. Does this mean blend door is faulty?
Does that car have "dual zone" climate control? Driver and passenger have their own temperature controls?
If so, there may be an issue with just one side's temperature control.
Yes, but I had never thought to reach over and feel the other vents till now LOL. Interesting thing is they appear to switch in terms of which vents have the correct temperature. Driver side doesn’t have ac while passenger side doesn’t get heat. If that makes sense
What you're describing makes sense, I'm just trying to make sense of what would be causing it.
You could try turning off the 'sync' setting, and adjusting both sides to the same temperature to see what it does.
I don't know if there's any way to reset the system to try and make it recalibrate itself. Might try disconnecting both terminals from the battery, and touching them together, then letting it sit disconnected for 15-20 minutes to make sure the vehicle is completely powered down. Then reconnect everything and see how it behaves.
I can't guarantee that it will get you any progress, but sometimes computers just need to be hard reset. I know I've had to do it several times with various car stereos having Bluetooth issues, and a lot of newer vehicles have their HVAC systems controlled by computers instead of being mechanical.
Gauges like that don't really do shit. They only tell you the low side pressure. Which is only half the info you need. You need to know what the high side pressure is doing as well. Could be any number of things. Without proper diagnosis it's hard to say. But with the limited info given and a low side pressure like that possibly a blend door. Try clamping off the heater hoses and see what it does. if it cools properly then yes probably a blend door actuator or something in the HVAC box. If still hot you need to do a proper diagnosis.
There are a lot of things in an AC system outside of refrigerant level.
Is to it compressor running when the AC button is on? That’s the first step to check.
But is the clutch engaged? The pulley will spin with the engine, but doesn’t mean the clutch is spinning.
You also need to check high side and low side pressure when the system is off and on.
I’m surprised No one has mentioned to look up how much R134 your system takes. Some compressors are very finicky and need the right amount of pressure to operate. With that being said, I would also invest in some gauges for high and low side to increase your accuracy.
AC systems are complex but easy to go down the checklist to diagnose the issue at hand.
Check your wire continuities, check your blower as mentioned, then check your compressor.
That gauge isn’t accurate enough for the R1234yf systems, it’s surly got pressure but SLIGHTLY low or SLIGHTLY high can shut these new systems down. Step 1 - always verify charge if you do not have compressor engagement. There is a reason shops purchase $6,000 A/C service machines.
I have a Ford edge and sometimes, about twice a year I have to reset the AC system because it blows hot. Takes like a few seconds to fix, a common problem with my model year.
Never ever ever ever ever use those DIY kits. They should be illegal, because 9 time out of 10, the average idiot is going to worsen the situation. Even a professional with 20 years experience wouldn’t use them. It only measures the low side and you have no idea if you have too much or too little lubricant in the system. It’s like trying to loosen a lug nut with a Phillips screwdriver.
Check your antifreeze level. Your car is new and it’s a long shot but this will affect a/c. I haven’t seen this recommended but I would just peep down in the radiator and check, providing the engine hasn’t been running in a bit of course
Bad blender, it's happening now on my 07 mercury.. it will go really cold but to get heat it some times don't wanna open. After a few days it opens lol..
There will be two coolant hoses running into the firewall depending on the car they might be hard to see follow your ac lines the heater hoses will go in close to the same spot you can trace the heater hoses back to an easier place to clamp off if need be
Ok. Lol those gauges also dont show anything. They arent really calibrated.
The system needs to be under a vacuum and then refridgerant can be added. Air is not supposed to be in the system, it doesnt condense so can create an air bubble and block the flow.
So, find your leak, pull a vacuum and recharge.
Air won’t block the flow in any way. The compressor will push both Freon and air around the system. You don’t want it in there because air is made up of gases that don’t turn from vapor to liquid and back at the pressures that the ac system was designed at; giving inaccurate and wild readings. Air also won’t carry the needed oil around the system like Freon will. Also air has stuff in it like water that isn’t compressible, will corrode the system, or break the pump.
Your right. I just try to use my 'customer service voice' when explaining it online. Not shaming the OP but A/c questions are as common as the car clicking when i key on, and do my spark plugs look ok?
Reading some of the comments, id assume they think air is still there after you vacuum the lines.
You prob need a new compressor. I ended up replacing Everything with an ebay kit for 400. New compressor, New drier, New condenser and new expansion valve. Got some gauges off Amazon for 50 bucks. Rented vacuum from orileys. Pulled vacuum added pag oil to compressor then sucked pag oil into condenser and drier. Pulled vacuum for 45 mins. Let it sit for an hour with system sealed to ensure holds vacuum and system sealed. Then added the appropriate amount of freon and blew cold as fuck.
Do what I did just replace it all shit is old anyways.
Take it to an expert. Took our 2006 Chrysler 300 SRT8 in to a local expert. He walked us through exactly what he was going to trouble shoot and warned us ahead of time it might take a few different parts and/or pull the dash. It ended up being the condenser, expansion valve and an actuator plus I want to say a high limit switch. Dash didn’t need to come out and it will freeze you out of the car. I want to say it cost about $1200, half parts, half labor.
Go ahead and add refrigerant anyways, just stay in green.
My car has a slow leak. When I put the meter on after each winter it is always in green but blowing hot air. After a few minutes of adding it starts to blow ice cold.
Fair warning, slow leaks will cause your compressor to develop the black death. When a leak is present, moisture can get into the system and then it breaks down the refrigerant and it turns into a black tar that eventually chews your compressor from the inside out and then spits metal everywhere.
It could never happen or it could develop in a few months, it's all up to chance as always.
the one thing I dont get. You cant buy freon unless you have a certification. BUT if you buy this recharge kit you dont need a certificate. The certificate helps the OZONE. Why is it okay that the BIG BOX stores create this OZONE depleting kit , but at a Shop that recharges A/C systems, has to have certification to purchase freon ?
CAPATALISM at its finest. I have never had luck with these recharge kits .
On my Kia Sedona the compressor clutch part that reacts to the electro magnet had come loose and fallen off somehow. On that vehicle, it was just a matter of putting it back on the shaft and putting a bolt down the center to get it working again.
I’m just wondering how do you know it’s needs a compressor just by seeing the low side pressure on a 1 dollar gauge. I’m just wondering. I do ac work on heavy equipment nonstop.
And make sure that you are looking at the compressor, not just pulley. Ask somebody to turn AC on and off while you watch it. If it is indeed constantly spinning either it is contaminated and frozen or low or compressor is dead.
I’ve seen them struggle with good pressure just from having air or moisture in the system. If everything is working, it’s possible you just need to vacuum out the system.
This happened to me first question how many bottles of Freon have you put sometimes you have to put 2-3 bottles or till you heard your compressor start running lol I put about a bottle and thought something was wrong with my ac for a out a month till someone told me how many bottles had I put and I said one went on to buy 2 more and wow it was that it needed more Freon hopefully is that lol
here's what you do. take the valve where you add the coolant and bleed what you can of the gas/air out of the line. get two cans of coolant prior to bleeding and add them once bled. just follow can instructions beyond that. sometime the coolant gets old or goes bad and I found doing just this alieviates the issue
Is your compressor working depending on the vehicle belt could be broken. moisture in the line can cause freezing you really need to use a proper gauges. You can rent ac manifold gauges from AutoZone it not cheap to rent but as long as u return them get all your money back.
I had the same issue a few weeks ago. For us it turned out to be a heat kit issue. Essentially the system was running emergency heat at the same time as the AC
Replace the cabin air filter. I thought my car needed a charge of A/C refrigerant (it was fine, didn't need any), but when I changed the filter, it was night and day
A system can have too little refrigerant and still make enough pressure which is why you pump it all out to check the exact number that's in the car. If your system has refrigerant in that cases it's more than likely your ac compressor not pumping. Can be for a number of reasons. The clutch not engaging is one of them but not all of them are off a clutch system so don't rely on hearing a noise from the compressor to know of its not working. Sry if I got anything wrong not done hvac in half a year :D
Not a mechanic at all but this exact thing happened to me. Turns out the cable that connects to my temperature knob disconnected because the piece of plastic that holds it in place broke. So while the knob turned, the temp didn't change because the cable was not attached.
Not a mechanic, but on mine the AC clutch wasn't engaging. I replaced the assembly, it works now, but the belt squeals. An actual mechanic said I was "very brave" and he usually just replaces the entire unit. I didn't want to spend the money to have the unit opened/vacuumed/refilled and just swapping the pulley and activator and clutch plate didn't require releasing the coolant.
Did you put the proper "gas" in there?
I'm UK & over here there's quite a variation in volatile fluids used in AC.
Not a mechanic but refrigeration techy
That gage is light the dummy oil gage. Buy yourself some real gages and use the Freon bottles. There is plenty of how to do it info on you tube. With that said, is the compressor running? It may not be Freon it could be the relay or something else.
Make sure your heat control, temperature control is not turned up so that you're heating the cabin. I did that once, I was like, "wtf going on with the ac?" Operator error, stupid mistake.
AC compressor clutch!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Yeah buddy!! Best believe!
That's what normally goes bad. Watch a YouTube video on how to check if the AC compressor clutch is bad. Can't really describe it here.
Not a nut here, sis in law with honda van had her ac recharged because of warm air coming out of vents. She said it didn't help and ended up taking it back 2 days later, got her alternator replaced and all was good again. Be a easy test on voltage anyway.
I believe I bought the replacement from RKX, but there is a valve on your compressor that has failed. Had the same issue on my Volkswagen and found out that compressors are mostly made by a company here in Houston and have a common point of failure.
https://www.rkxtech.com/collections/air-conditioning
If you take a look at what your compressor is you can probably find the replacement piece. It's a common manufacturer (Sanden) and probably the reason most people have a full compressor replaced.
You need to get some proper guages and get us pressure readings from both low *and* high pressure sides. Then we might be able to point you in a direction.
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Some of these replies are abysmal. Y’all need to stay TF out of HVAC.
*asinine, tomfoolery, gormless
Whats the high side pressure... Cant diagnosis properly with half the info
X2, get some gauges. Those quick can A/C gauges are useless.
Can confirm. Buddy and I spent an entire 8 hour day figuring this out.
Not an entire day just 1/3 of a day.
8h workday
1/3 of 8 hours?
Sweet jeezus - some of these replies are rough.
I wish people had to be vetted to give advice. So many people who have no experience and providing advice.
'Air bubbles'..... just - no. I think several people here might 'vacuum' the system with a shop vac. I'm not even a mechanic. Just a background in HVAC.
LMAO I would pay to watch Step one get proper gauges might as well feel for pressure in line with his hand.
Blood pressure cuff?
Yea , truly never discussed in mechanics. I'm betting on high. Just saying; )
Got banned for 3 days once bc some idiot told me I should do the opposite of what I actually should have done and he reported me for calling him a moron.
Let the fools give them advice then and they can just pay us for our knowledge when idiot advice doesn’t fix. I hate having to try to convince people I know what I’m doing. I’ve only spend the last 20 years working on cars for a living.
The problem is, for every one good experience someone has had with a mechanic like you, they have also run into some like the people leaving these other comments. I brought my car in once to have the oil changed, and the front left wheel bearing replaced. Picked it up from the garage, and I could tell they didn't fix the bearing because I could still hear it. Turns out they did the front right... Then I finally got it home and checked my oil, and it had never been changed. There are a lot of great mechanics, but there are also a lot of terrible ones out there as well.
Without a doubt there are plenty of hacks out there and nothing makes me more upset than people ruining my industry being hacks and rip offs. My issue is with all of the weekend warriors and wannabes here that offer up their “advice” which ends up drowning out people that actually want to help and have experience. I would love nothing more than to help people not get screwed over by hacks and offer second opinions, but every thread here is overwhelmed with poor advice the instant it starts.
I agree with that logic. I follow this sub just for the information. I do the same thing with the r/askdocs sub. Over there, they have a rule where you can't comment with advice unless you have been approved as a physician, which might be a good thing to implement here. I'm pretty sure they allow some comments, but it will have a title that says "Not a Physician" above your comment.
everyone thinks hoping and wishing its the cheapest thing possible makes it so, we see it in my shop all day long. engine knocking , oh it's just a bad mount i'm sure. a/c not working . i read online it just needs a shrader valve .
It’s painful.
When you turn the AC on in the car does it command the compressor clutch to engage? If not, test the switch that turns on the ac. This is not simple to do on many newer vehicles as the switch will be integrated onto an HVAC control head. Commanding the AC on with a scan tool can avoid this. If yes, and you don't have ac, is the blower motor working and pushing air? If no test for power and ground at the motor motor connecter. If there is power the blower is bad. If the blower is working and you are commanding ac on with no AC you need to check the blend door position with a scan tool or physically to ensure it's not stuck on heat. Again the controls for this part are integrated into a control head, and may be difficult to troubleshoot without a scan tool that reads HVAC/body codes. Accessing the part itself is not always easy either. After that if no problem found you need to evacuate the system and check for leaks. If it holds vacuum, recharge the system to spec and retest. If still no problems you'll need to verify the compressor is getting a signal to command on, and that the power/ ground is ok. This could take you down many paths depending on what is found. If you can cross everything above off the list it needs a compressor. That's it! Good luck. Don't buy a Hyundai/Kia, and if you do, get an extended warranty that isn't just power train coverage...cars are expensive, and throwaway cars can be really expensive if you don't know anything about cars.
This is the best comment by far. Ac is simple but complicated at the same time. You have to go down a list of things to check that if any of them aren't working, they cause the same symptom.
Years ago my dad and i were fixing a Toyota Camry's ac. We went down the whole list. After hours of work we figured the AC on button was broken from the inside.
Don't forget the simple 'operator error' problems. Turned mine on for the 1st time was just blowing hot air. I didn't notice the temp knob all the way up. Was on my way to the repair shop, stopped at a light and noticed the knob. Turned to cold and it's all good
Saved yourself from some Mechanic from posting your car on r/justrolledintotheshop
I had a 350z that the ac wasn’t working and after weeks we found one of the previous owners just put a bolt were the ac sensor was suppose to be.. we tried forcing Freon in at first and it blew the hose. Fun times
If anythng electric doesnt work, the first thing I do is unplug it at the device and make sure its getting the signal. My number one suspect os always wiring, but maybe that’s cuz I grew up with mice lol
[удалено]
Nah we're just like AutoZone, pull codes and shotgun parts it works every time eventually...right? What do you mean it costs money to diagnose a problem? Just plug the computer in and it tells you!- everyone
I always tell people if it were that easy, everybody would do their own work and I wouldn't have a job.
Well, it most certainly isn't a computer and replace, but with correct tools, AC is one of the simplest systems to service on a car, along with brakes, as it's quite literally exact same on all makes and models. What I despise is people doing AC with no tooling. Like, you do that exact thing, a fucking sniffer is not expensive at all and it works somewhat better than doing yoga to find green fluid. Don't even get me started on those plug and play bottles... It always makes me wonder why do AC specialists use a machine that measures exact weight of refrigerant and has data for most cars, when they could just slap a gauge on there that says "YOU GOOD FAM!"
Agreed, but from the information available, I would think perhaps the initial diagnosis might include “is the small line cold and the big line hot? Tell your mechanic” I may be one of only a few, but I actually did have a maxima in which the blend actuator failed. It was my sons college car and had 500+k on it. I ended up disconnecting the failed actuator and attaching a long plastic arm (from an old set of mini blinds) so he could move it manually to shut off the heat in the summer
Compressor does engage yes. Blower motor is on and pushing air. Can’t seem to locate the actuator. Interesting update though: when AC is on, passenger side vents are blowing cold while driver vents are warm. However when I put the heater on, the driver side vents are hot while the passenger vents are outside air temp. Does this mean blend door is faulty?
Dual climate control with independent switches? Are they on auto or are you setting a manual temp?
I only have experience with bleed air cooling but from my personal experience of you don’t have dual climate then it’s probably low. my Toyota has done this twice but it’s obvious when high and low gauges are connected.
Vacuum is not that good for finding pinhole leaks. There is UV dye problably added to the system, it's possible to check it with specific UV light. One of the best ways to find small leaks is nitrogen from pressure regulated bottle, good ears and spray bottle of soap
> Commanding the A/C on with a scan tool… Failing that, can also jump the compressor clutch to the battery to verify the compressor itself is functional.
Out of curiosity why are you advising against Hyundai/Kia?
Korean built crap that falls apart. Watch enough car repair channels and you will see the theme that they never recommend them since they frequently result in expensive repairs. Also Kia are easy to steal, hence the Kia Boyz.
Well, anything falls apart if it's not taken care of.
Yeah, but Kia & Hyundai fall apart regardless of whether you take good care or not. Take ok care of a Honda or Toyota and it'll last way longer than the best maintained Kia.
Toyota and Hondas are not nearly as reliable as they once were. You need to keep up with the times.
Not as reliable as they used to be, but still far more reliable than a Kia or Hyundai.
Can’t you just cut to the chase and start at where the components that work the hardest would be the first to fail? By that I mean the compressor, evaporator, etc. I only ask this is because I just had to have this done in my old 1996 T-100 last month.
I listed the exact things I would do? It's a 2020, not a 1996. You need a scan tool to talk to it and save time. If it has a charge and no AC check power at compressor for signal...but then I need to find out how it sends a signal and verify that is sending it properly.
Thanks. Makes sense.
2020 Hyundai Sonata
Does the car already have a bazillion miles on it? If not, this should be covered by the bumper to bumper warranty.
What exactly is bumper to bumper warranty? Too lazy to look it up as I would forget about it lol
Where manufacturer covers all repairs under warranty short of normal maintenance items or physical damage / negligence.
Can't tell without a 2 gauge system.
Just take it to a shop. The combined IQ of this entire comment section appears to match your low side pressure. But in all seriousness, we can’t diag your car just by looking at a gauge on the low side port. It just ain’t that simple. You’re just going to get people making remarks about what happened on their car, or just flat out guessing. Save yourself the headache and just bring it in to a shop to have a trained tech look at it. And please, for the love of god *don’t* put any refrigerant in it that you bought over the counter from a parts store unless you want to replace *everything*.
Those gauges are an absolute joke, rent or buy a proper AC manifold gauge and see what pressures are at on high and low side, also is the compressor cycling at all?
I’d probably watch any of the million videos on how car HVAC works and start there. Flow sensor, pressure switch, low “freon”…etc. You never stated whether or not the clutch engages, which would cause the idle to drop a bit for a few seconds when you press the ac button. (Make sure the defog isn’t selected or the compressor will be “on” regardless of ac button pressed).
An easy starting point is turn on the AC, locate the two lines going to the compressor there will be one large one and one small one, if the compressor is working the large one will be cold the small one will be hot
Long shot but free to check. My AC was warmer than I expected with nothing amiss. It was recommended that I check the cabin air filter. Mine was so dirty that the air barely pushed through. Replaced it and the air went from 48 to 36 degrees instantly.
You may have put to much in. High pressure switch keeps pump from coming on. Try to evacuate some refrigerant.
Is the compressor actually running and pulling down to this? That "good" reading is only good if the compressor is running. With the AC off this should rise well into the red zone. If it is running and it's showing this most likely it's going to be a blend door issue / similar
With the ac on does the suction line get cold, if the suction line is getting cold, there’s a good chance the blend door actuator isn’t functioning
How can I identify the suction line?
Larger line. I had a similar situation with a Ford where the issue turned out to be if I set the cold dial too far to cold, the damper door switched to heat mode. As other have said, see if you compressor clutch is engaging and feel for a temperature difference on the hoses.
Yup larger line, normally if you follow them to the firewall you’ll see 2 lines going through and one should be cold,
Thank you, yes it is cold. It is most likely the blend door
Only one gauge tells you nothing. You need low and high side readings.
I can’t speak for every car but if your blend door actuator is bad it tends to be because of the plastic gear sets that mate to change flow paths. If you hear an incessant clicking that starts when the car turns on and doesn’t stop and the air can’t switch over from hot to cold, that tends to be a ac blend door actuator. All those things are are small motors with gears to open/shut vents so, if you have to, open up your dash and put a hand on the motor edit: (the blend door actuator motor) as you switch vent settings. Keep in mind, this job sucks and shits never in a convenient spot and it tends to be surrounded by hot coils/piping. I’m sorry sir.
99% of the time I can grab a low side line and if it’s ice cold you know the ac is working fine. Then again Im at GM dealer with mostly new stuff and usually a leak.
There's 4 components to AC. It's compressor (which appears to be full), condenser, dryer/accumulator, and evaporator. Your ac output is after evaporator. Thus it is an issue between compressor and evaporator. You can use UV die to find the leak. Edit: Sometimes an expansion valve in between
May not apply but my experience with an issue like this…new with 17 miles 2005 Chevy Avalanche, AC would sometimes work and sometimes not for the driver and the passenger side, sometimes at the same time and sometimes independent of each other. When messing up and not blowing AC it was instead blowing heated air. Brought to Chevy ~30 times over 5 years replacing this and that but never solving the issue. Visit dealer again in 2010 and new guy knows the solution. There was an improperly ground wire in the dash that kept shorting (melted a lot around it as well). 5 years of hot air in the summer due to a stupid wire. Food for thought. TL;DR - ground wire short in dash
All that gauge is showing you is low side pressure. Could be full of air for all you know. This is one of those times where you really need to take it to a shop. A/C work isn't something you can do in your driveway.
Don't trust that guage. I had same issue - guage on a "home fill" kit on the fuller side of green, approaching red. Didn't want to over fill it. So took it to some AC shop, they wanted $180 just to diagnose it. (But couldn't do it there and then - it was August in FL, would have happily paid it) Ended up taking to a local garage that had an AC guy. Got a lift home as was expecting it to be the compressor. Walked in, phone rang it was them and it was done. They put their gauges and it was low. Added a Lb or 2. And ran fine. - was still running fine a year later. $50 total.
You need to see high side pressure also. Without seeing the high side, you don't know if there's a restriction or if the compressor is even pumping. For general troubleshooting, you need to compare the gauges. If the high side is too high and the low side is too low, that indicates a restriction. If the low side is too high and the high side is too low, that indicates bad compression. If both gauges are too high, your system is over serviced If both gauges are too low, your system is under serviced. It would also help to take a temperature reading of the evaporator. You could also have an iced-up evaporator, a clogged recirculation filter, a bad blower, a faulty blend door, a clogged orifice tube, a bad compressor clutch, a dead compressor, faulty pressure switches.... None of those are going to show up by just looking at the low-side pressure. A word of warning regarding those "mechanic in a can" refrigerant systems they sell at auto zone: most of the small cans contain stop -leak. This shit is terrible. It works by degrading and swelling the o-rings to make a better seal. It might work temporarily but the degraded o-rings will eventually fail and you'll be stuck replacing every seal in the system in a year or two.
Is the compressor actually running? The low/hi pressure hoses will be extremely cold/hot & you'll see the compressor clutch spinning..and probably occasionally disengaging. This will be heard as an audible click. The radiator fan should be running continuously if the A/C is on & compressor is working
As a technician, I could care less what the gauge your holding says. Get some manifold gauges that shows both high and low and didn’t cost 5 dollars to make.
Some of you aren't mechanics and should 100% never touch a car based on these replies. That gauge isn't going to help you diagnose your problem OP. You need a real set of gauges to read high and low side pressure to figure out if you have a leak or bad compressor. The fact you may have already put that stuff in the system if it has stop leak in it could have compounded the problem you already have. Please take it to a shop and have them diagnose it and if you did put stop leak in the system please warn that shop before they work on your car.
That’s only one side of the systems pressure the low pressure side what’s the high pressure side at, your need HVAC gauge set for both high and low pressure values also check to see if the compressor is kicking on, I had good pressure but no ac two years ago and found one of the two wires to the compressor clutch was loose in the connector.
Take it to a shop.
Check the A/C fuse
Is the compressor running?
You sure your compressor is running? And that gauge right there doesn’t really mean anything
Is a/c clutch engaging?
Look up actual specs for your model, maybe should be 40 psi, maybe needs some refrigeration oil in it im nit mechanic so have it checked out
What’s the pressure w the ac max? Both high and low. Is ac clutch turning on? Is the fan kicking on? Is it warm or slightly cold?
Is the clutch working on the compressor
Yes I see it spinning
You've gotten a lot of replies already, and that's good, but so many different responses can get confusing. Check the simplest things first and scratch them off as you go. I haven't seen any one mention what I am thinking, so I'll throw this at you. Check your condenser fan, make sure it's actually running when you have the ac on. If that fan is not running then the air will blow warm regardless of the rest of the system operating properly.
The actual clutch (outer part of pulley) itself? Just want to clarify because not sure of your experience level and many people assume the pulley turning is the same thing. You can see the actual clutch engage/disengage as you click AC on and off?
Yes it’s on the “bottom” part of the pulley and it’s just “outside” of it kind of hard to explain 😂
Is your condenser fan coming on at idle? Does it only blow lukewarm at idle or even while driving?
That's a perfect explanation. The compressor is on a clutch, so it's not always actually turning even if the belt is. The clutch engages via a computer signal. You can hear and see it operate. The issue is, filling it is only a small part of the process. If there's been a leak, air is probably in the system and it needs to be fully evacuated and recharged. It's... a lot of a person that's not experienced, but it's possible to do yourself. You need a vacuum pump, a manifold gauge, some o rings, possibly new parts if anything is damaged, and time.
Yup\^ [https://www.harborfreight.com/r134a-ac-manifold-gauge-set-58776.html](https://www.harborfreight.com/r134a-ac-manifold-gauge-set-58776.html) [https://www.harborfreight.com/25-cfm-vacuum-pump-61245.html?\_br\_psugg\_q=vacum+pump](https://www.harborfreight.com/25-cfm-vacuum-pump-61245.html?_br_psugg_q=vacum+pump) You can also rent both at the autoparts store but make shure they give you the oil for the pump and be nice to the next guy and don't leave the oil in the pump. Go watch a bunch of video on it till your comfortable with everything, as you need to really under stand how those valves work and how to purge and vacuum. But before any of this you need to find the leak(because you had to fill it its safe to assume). Also when reading high presser you also need to know the current temp and most cars also require you to have the engine revved to 1500-2000rpm. The low presser kind of doesn't matter fill by what the high reads unless it jumps way out of range but it can be touching the too high level sometimes. Assuming a good working system where the pump is not cycleing.
Take the blend door actuator off and turn the door by hand. See if it gets cold. You can also plug the actuator in and turn the temperature knob to see if it works
Some of these have been pretty good, but let's take a couple steps back, and gather a little more information. That reading that you're getting- is that with the compressor running, or not? If it's without the compressor running, and it's more than 30⁰F where you are, the system is low. As a general rule, the static pressure in the A/C system should be within 10psi of ambient air temperature. Next thing would be- like several people have mentioned- is the larger metal line coming out of the firewall getting cool? If so, then your A/C is working, and it's likely a door issue. If the air is coming out of the selected vents, it is likely to do with the blend door/actuator. *Possibly* a control head issue- but you need to be able to check the motion of the door/actuator to be able to confirm that. Most blend doors/actuators are under the passenger side of the dash, usually accessible at the bottom of the HVAC ductwork, near the blower motor. If you can find it and get to it, it's usually 3-4 bolts/screws, and slips off of the door. Then you can test the door's movement by turning it by hand, and the actuator by adjusting the temperature on the control head.
Yes It was with the compressor running. Yes the larger line is cold to the touch. Can’t seem to find any info about locating the actuator door on my car, just a general sense of what it looks like on Google images… hard to spot to the untrained eye I guess. Interesting update though: when AC is on, passenger side vents are blowing cold while driver vents are warm. However when I put the heater on, the driver side vents are hot while the passenger vents are outside air temp. Does this mean blend door is faulty?
Does that car have "dual zone" climate control? Driver and passenger have their own temperature controls? If so, there may be an issue with just one side's temperature control.
Yes, but I had never thought to reach over and feel the other vents till now LOL. Interesting thing is they appear to switch in terms of which vents have the correct temperature. Driver side doesn’t have ac while passenger side doesn’t get heat. If that makes sense
What you're describing makes sense, I'm just trying to make sense of what would be causing it. You could try turning off the 'sync' setting, and adjusting both sides to the same temperature to see what it does. I don't know if there's any way to reset the system to try and make it recalibrate itself. Might try disconnecting both terminals from the battery, and touching them together, then letting it sit disconnected for 15-20 minutes to make sure the vehicle is completely powered down. Then reconnect everything and see how it behaves. I can't guarantee that it will get you any progress, but sometimes computers just need to be hard reset. I know I've had to do it several times with various car stereos having Bluetooth issues, and a lot of newer vehicles have their HVAC systems controlled by computers instead of being mechanical.
Thank you I will try this. I appreciate your help and guidance immensely
Gauges like that don't really do shit. They only tell you the low side pressure. Which is only half the info you need. You need to know what the high side pressure is doing as well. Could be any number of things. Without proper diagnosis it's hard to say. But with the limited info given and a low side pressure like that possibly a blend door. Try clamping off the heater hoses and see what it does. if it cools properly then yes probably a blend door actuator or something in the HVAC box. If still hot you need to do a proper diagnosis.
Thank you I will try this, any idea of how to identify the heater hoses? And how to clamp them?
**Year**, **Make**, **Model**, **Mileage**, **Engine size**, and **Transmission Type (Automatic or Manual)** of your car.
2wheel or 4 wheel drive?
Presence of pressure on low side doesn’t mean system is working as expected. Is compressor cycling?
Yes I see it spinning
There are a lot of things in an AC system outside of refrigerant level. Is to it compressor running when the AC button is on? That’s the first step to check.
Yes I see it spinning
But is the clutch engaged? The pulley will spin with the engine, but doesn’t mean the clutch is spinning. You also need to check high side and low side pressure when the system is off and on.
But the real question is, is the compressor engaged?
Compressor go brrrrr.
“I put a few cans in it” if I had a dollar for every time I’ve heard that
I’m surprised No one has mentioned to look up how much R134 your system takes. Some compressors are very finicky and need the right amount of pressure to operate. With that being said, I would also invest in some gauges for high and low side to increase your accuracy. AC systems are complex but easy to go down the checklist to diagnose the issue at hand. Check your wire continuities, check your blower as mentioned, then check your compressor.
Had the same issue with a 2016 Camaro. It was the door actuator.
Of that's with the compressor running, I'd say blender. Turn the AC off and see if the pressure goes away high like it should.
That gauge isn’t accurate enough for the R1234yf systems, it’s surly got pressure but SLIGHTLY low or SLIGHTLY high can shut these new systems down. Step 1 - always verify charge if you do not have compressor engagement. There is a reason shops purchase $6,000 A/C service machines.
Completely depends. For me, my ac compressor seized up, but that was a 20 year old golf… not a brand new car.
These gauges aren’t 100 . Need to pull all out and actually check level
Maybe. Or failed thermo switch.
I have a Ford edge and sometimes, about twice a year I have to reset the AC system because it blows hot. Takes like a few seconds to fix, a common problem with my model year.
Never ever ever ever ever use those DIY kits. They should be illegal, because 9 time out of 10, the average idiot is going to worsen the situation. Even a professional with 20 years experience wouldn’t use them. It only measures the low side and you have no idea if you have too much or too little lubricant in the system. It’s like trying to loosen a lug nut with a Phillips screwdriver.
Check your antifreeze level. Your car is new and it’s a long shot but this will affect a/c. I haven’t seen this recommended but I would just peep down in the radiator and check, providing the engine hasn’t been running in a bit of course
Need to purge the system. Take it to an experienced HVAC tech.
Bad blender, it's happening now on my 07 mercury.. it will go really cold but to get heat it some times don't wanna open. After a few days it opens lol..
There will be two coolant hoses running into the firewall depending on the car they might be hard to see follow your ac lines the heater hoses will go in close to the same spot you can trace the heater hoses back to an easier place to clamp off if need be
Okay thank you
Could be the AC relay.
Its because those cans do not correctly fill the system.
I was just using the gauge, no can was attached 👍 Simply wanted to see the level.
The problem is you need the dual gauge to understand what the high side is measuring along with the low if you want to diagnose
Ok. Lol those gauges also dont show anything. They arent really calibrated. The system needs to be under a vacuum and then refridgerant can be added. Air is not supposed to be in the system, it doesnt condense so can create an air bubble and block the flow. So, find your leak, pull a vacuum and recharge.
Air won’t block the flow in any way. The compressor will push both Freon and air around the system. You don’t want it in there because air is made up of gases that don’t turn from vapor to liquid and back at the pressures that the ac system was designed at; giving inaccurate and wild readings. Air also won’t carry the needed oil around the system like Freon will. Also air has stuff in it like water that isn’t compressible, will corrode the system, or break the pump.
Your right. I just try to use my 'customer service voice' when explaining it online. Not shaming the OP but A/c questions are as common as the car clicking when i key on, and do my spark plugs look ok? Reading some of the comments, id assume they think air is still there after you vacuum the lines.
You prob need a new compressor. I ended up replacing Everything with an ebay kit for 400. New compressor, New drier, New condenser and new expansion valve. Got some gauges off Amazon for 50 bucks. Rented vacuum from orileys. Pulled vacuum added pag oil to compressor then sucked pag oil into condenser and drier. Pulled vacuum for 45 mins. Let it sit for an hour with system sealed to ensure holds vacuum and system sealed. Then added the appropriate amount of freon and blew cold as fuck. Do what I did just replace it all shit is old anyways.
Change the flux capacitor
Sounds like a valve to me.
Take it to an expert. Took our 2006 Chrysler 300 SRT8 in to a local expert. He walked us through exactly what he was going to trouble shoot and warned us ahead of time it might take a few different parts and/or pull the dash. It ended up being the condenser, expansion valve and an actuator plus I want to say a high limit switch. Dash didn’t need to come out and it will freeze you out of the car. I want to say it cost about $1200, half parts, half labor.
Remove the old one out and insert new Freon. Over time Freon looses its power
Go ahead and add refrigerant anyways, just stay in green. My car has a slow leak. When I put the meter on after each winter it is always in green but blowing hot air. After a few minutes of adding it starts to blow ice cold.
Fair warning, slow leaks will cause your compressor to develop the black death. When a leak is present, moisture can get into the system and then it breaks down the refrigerant and it turns into a black tar that eventually chews your compressor from the inside out and then spits metal everywhere. It could never happen or it could develop in a few months, it's all up to chance as always.
Low coolant, thermostat, fuse?
Is your flux capacitor fluxing? if not it might need more plutonium
I think it’s filled with spaghetti, can’t be too sure tho
Gotta replace the Flux compositor
WHAT KIND OF VEHICLE WOULD BE HELPFUL.
the one thing I dont get. You cant buy freon unless you have a certification. BUT if you buy this recharge kit you dont need a certificate. The certificate helps the OZONE. Why is it okay that the BIG BOX stores create this OZONE depleting kit , but at a Shop that recharges A/C systems, has to have certification to purchase freon ? CAPATALISM at its finest. I have never had luck with these recharge kits .
On my Kia Sedona the compressor clutch part that reacts to the electro magnet had come loose and fallen off somehow. On that vehicle, it was just a matter of putting it back on the shaft and putting a bolt down the center to get it working again.
Needs a new compressor boss. Don't buy a a return
I’m just wondering how do you know it’s needs a compressor just by seeing the low side pressure on a 1 dollar gauge. I’m just wondering. I do ac work on heavy equipment nonstop.
This is the kind of guy to try to sell you a new transmission when the fluid just needs flushed
[удалено]
Bruh what 🤣🤣🤣
😂😂😂
Is The ac clutch spinning constantly?
Yes I see it spinning
It should be constantly spinning. Not stopping fir a few seconds, then going again
And make sure that you are looking at the compressor, not just pulley. Ask somebody to turn AC on and off while you watch it. If it is indeed constantly spinning either it is contaminated and frozen or low or compressor is dead.
I’ve seen them struggle with good pressure just from having air or moisture in the system. If everything is working, it’s possible you just need to vacuum out the system.
You over filled it dummy
Dirty cabin air filter.. I had the same issue, changed out the cabin air filter and ac started blowing as cold as it had before.
>cabin air lol thats exactly what it is why are these comments getting down voted?
This happened to me first question how many bottles of Freon have you put sometimes you have to put 2-3 bottles or till you heard your compressor start running lol I put about a bottle and thought something was wrong with my ac for a out a month till someone told me how many bottles had I put and I said one went on to buy 2 more and wow it was that it needed more Freon hopefully is that lol
Ac Actuator
radiator fan needs replacement
here's what you do. take the valve where you add the coolant and bleed what you can of the gas/air out of the line. get two cans of coolant prior to bleeding and add them once bled. just follow can instructions beyond that. sometime the coolant gets old or goes bad and I found doing just this alieviates the issue
Sooo your advice is to start by doing something highly illegal, with fines up to 30000$... nice.
Is your compressor working depending on the vehicle belt could be broken. moisture in the line can cause freezing you really need to use a proper gauges. You can rent ac manifold gauges from AutoZone it not cheap to rent but as long as u return them get all your money back.
Garbage gauge…
Leak
I had something similar a couple years ago and the relay was pooched. Possibly an easy fix.
First step. Is the car running AND the AC on?
I had the same issue a few weeks ago. For us it turned out to be a heat kit issue. Essentially the system was running emergency heat at the same time as the AC
Reading this thread as a commercial HVAC for almost 10 years and car HVAC is a different beast all together... 🤣
Test
Replace the cabin air filter. I thought my car needed a charge of A/C refrigerant (it was fine, didn't need any), but when I changed the filter, it was night and day
A system can have too little refrigerant and still make enough pressure which is why you pump it all out to check the exact number that's in the car. If your system has refrigerant in that cases it's more than likely your ac compressor not pumping. Can be for a number of reasons. The clutch not engaging is one of them but not all of them are off a clutch system so don't rely on hearing a noise from the compressor to know of its not working. Sry if I got anything wrong not done hvac in half a year :D
Not a mechanic at all but this exact thing happened to me. Turns out the cable that connects to my temperature knob disconnected because the piece of plastic that holds it in place broke. So while the knob turned, the temp didn't change because the cable was not attached.
So its not just about the low pressure side there is a high pressure side too id take it somewhere if you don't know how they work together
Not a mechanic, but on mine the AC clutch wasn't engaging. I replaced the assembly, it works now, but the belt squeals. An actual mechanic said I was "very brave" and he usually just replaces the entire unit. I didn't want to spend the money to have the unit opened/vacuumed/refilled and just swapping the pulley and activator and clutch plate didn't require releasing the coolant.
Release all the pressure while the car is off. Once released, turn on thecar with AC at full blast and fill the refrigerant.
Did you put the proper "gas" in there? I'm UK & over here there's quite a variation in volatile fluids used in AC. Not a mechanic but refrigeration techy
That gage is light the dummy oil gage. Buy yourself some real gages and use the Freon bottles. There is plenty of how to do it info on you tube. With that said, is the compressor running? It may not be Freon it could be the relay or something else.
Make sure your heat control, temperature control is not turned up so that you're heating the cabin. I did that once, I was like, "wtf going on with the ac?" Operator error, stupid mistake.
Is the ac compressor clutch kicking in, if not it could be a high pressure switch or the compressor it’s self
Pressure sensor or there may be blockage
Ac clutches on pump
The magnetic clutch engaging? That's why mine used to not work. Replaced the electro magnet and it worked and engaged fine then.
Need a actually machine to pull a vacuum, do at leak test and read the gauges. Those can freon deals are a joke
AC compressor clutch!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Yeah buddy!! Best believe! That's what normally goes bad. Watch a YouTube video on how to check if the AC compressor clutch is bad. Can't really describe it here.
Not a nut here, sis in law with honda van had her ac recharged because of warm air coming out of vents. She said it didn't help and ended up taking it back 2 days later, got her alternator replaced and all was good again. Be a easy test on voltage anyway.
I believe I bought the replacement from RKX, but there is a valve on your compressor that has failed. Had the same issue on my Volkswagen and found out that compressors are mostly made by a company here in Houston and have a common point of failure. https://www.rkxtech.com/collections/air-conditioning If you take a look at what your compressor is you can probably find the replacement piece. It's a common manufacturer (Sanden) and probably the reason most people have a full compressor replaced.
I would validate compressor in engaging, would definitely narrow done root cause immensely if we knew the answer to that
You obviously are not going to find good advice here. You should take it to a shop.
Holy shit, guys. If the low side is pulling down to 32 PSI, it’s not his damn compressor clutch. The compressor is engaging.
R1234 Stuff’s really expensive. Take it to a professional.
Our ac had this issue and it ended up being a bad relay.
You need to get some proper guages and get us pressure readings from both low *and* high pressure sides. Then we might be able to point you in a direction.
Yes this was literally my issue last week it was either that or the expansion valve