AC on the fritz again.
From : jmc
Q: 2001 dakota. v8 4.7l engine. ac started blowing hot about 6 months ago got it recharged and then it was blessedly cool it was summer in oz where i was. now im here. my ac is no longer cold. its not hot or the outside air temp which is 90f right now but it is definitely not cold. it should be i think since i distinctly remember setting it at #3 and being comfortable not having it at full bore and still being sweaty as i am now. also i can now hear the compressor or something coming on and off at intervals. its louder than it used to be. comes on and off though even if the ac is off - if the fans on i can hear this noise. could it be related yea normally im a little more um better at writing stressy day havent eaten anything more than a handful of m&ms since about 530am. schools back on so traffic sucks. yea im a bit cranky and brain dead. jmc off to find something to eat and a swimming pool. .
Replies:
From : christopher d thompson
on sat 06 sep 2008 150708 -0500 geekboy wrote how do i tell if its low enough how can i diagnose that the problem is indeed a leak and not some other problem last time i had it in there are two ways. one way is to fill up with 134a that has dye. you will see red where there is a leak in the system. not reccomened. id much preferred a uv tracer dye added into the system then a black light inspection. this was always my preferred method. other way is a device that detects refrigerant molecules. it works very good. yes until you have a slight breeze then it becomes unreliable and either doesnt detect the leak if its small or gives all sorts of false signals. again uv dye and a black light is the best imho. they said it was low but said thatd be expected for the trucks age and that itd never been recharged to that point. they did not do whatever would be necessary to diagnose a leak cause they didnt think it had one... that was in december. if the refergierant is low in any a/c system then there is a leak. automobile a/c systems are known to not be very durable. there is a such thing as normal leakage around the compressor shaft seal. jmc -- chris .
From : geekboy
suddenly without warning tom lawrence exclaimed 9/5/2008 743 pm not a mechanic so i guess its to the shop and whats wrong with my ac. actually i do suspect a leak. damn! while im not usually a fan of working blind those cans of r-134a with the built-in gauge can be useful if its just a slow leak. for the past three years a friend of mine has been limping his durangos a/c system that way. his reasoning and it is sound is that $30 or so each year is cheaper than $1000 to replace his leaking evaporator. weve been charging it at the start of each cooling season and its good enough to get him through the summer and most of the winter for the defroster. the procedure is fairly simple... if youre low enough you have to remove the low-pressure cutout switch connector and jump the two terminals paper clip works well but then just hook the can to your low-pressure port and follow the cans directions. i use an ir thermometer pointed at the dash vent and stop filling when it gets down into the mid-to-low 40s rather than going by the universal low-good-overfill gauge. since the durango has two evaporators in it rear a/c as well we use up two full cans of refrigerant to re-fill his system. you can probably get by with a single can. if it works youve saved yourself a boatload of money or at least delayed the repair for a while. if it doesnt youre not out all that much cash. thanks. ive never heard of those cans of r-134a but this doesnt sound too difficult. you can get theose cans at autozone for about $20 and they come with a pressure gage. i cannot remeber how much pressure maybe around 15psi maybe the can will have it on it when you go buy one. how do i tell if its low enough how can i diagnose that the problem is indeed a leak and not some other problem last time i had it in there are two ways. one way is to fill up with 134a that has dye. you will see red where there is a leak in the system. not reccomened. other way is a device that detects refrigrant molecules. it works very good. they said it was low but said thatd be expected for the trucks age and that itd never been recharged to that point. they did not do whatever would be necessary to diagnose a leak cause they didnt think it had one... that was in december. if the refergierant is low in any a/c system then there is a leak. automobile a/c systems are known to not be very durable. jmc .
From : jmc
suddenly without warning tom lawrence exclaimed 9/5/2008 743 pm not a mechanic so i guess its to the shop and whats wrong with my ac. actually i do suspect a leak. damn! while im not usually a fan of working blind those cans of r-134a with the built-in gauge can be useful if its just a slow leak. for the past three years a friend of mine has been limping his durangos a/c system that way. his reasoning and it is sound is that $30 or so each year is cheaper than $1000 to replace his leaking evaporator. weve been charging it at the start of each cooling season and its good enough to get him through the summer and most of the winter for the defroster. the procedure is fairly simple... if youre low enough you have to remove the low-pressure cutout switch connector and jump the two terminals paper clip works well but then just hook the can to your low-pressure port and follow the cans directions. i use an ir thermometer pointed at the dash vent and stop filling when it gets down into the mid-to-low 40s rather than going by the universal low-good-overfill gauge. since the durango has two evaporators in it rear a/c as well we use up two full cans of refrigerant to re-fill his system. you can probably get by with a single can. if it works youve saved yourself a boatload of money or at least delayed the repair for a while. if it doesnt youre not out all that much cash. thanks. ive never heard of those cans of r-134a but this doesnt sound too difficult. how do i tell if its low enough how can i diagnose that the problem is indeed a leak and not some other problem last time i had it in they said it was low but said thatd be expected for the trucks age and that itd never been recharged to that point. they did not do whatever would be necessary to diagnose a leak cause they didnt think it had one... that was in december. jmc .
From : tom lawrence
not a mechanic so i guess its to the shop and whats wrong with my ac. actually i do suspect a leak. damn! while im not usually a fan of working blind those cans of r-134a with the built-in gauge can be useful if its just a slow leak. for the past three years a friend of mine has been limping his durangos a/c system that way. his reasoning and it is sound is that $30 or so each year is cheaper than $1000 to replace his leaking evaporator. weve been charging it at the start of each cooling season and its good enough to get him through the summer and most of the winter for the defroster. the procedure is fairly simple... if youre low enough you have to remove the low-pressure cutout switch connector and jump the two terminals paper clip works well but then just hook the can to your low-pressure port and follow the cans directions. i use an ir thermometer pointed at the dash vent and stop filling when it gets down into the mid-to-low 40s rather than going by the universal low-good-overfill gauge. since the durango has two evaporators in it rear a/c as well we use up two full cans of refrigerant to re-fill his system. you can probably get by with a single can. if it works youve saved yourself a boatload of money or at least delayed the repair for a while. if it doesnt youre not out all that much cash. .
From : jmc
suddenly without warning geekboy exclaimed 9/4/2008 959 pm 2001 dakota. v8 4.7l engine. ac started blowing hot about 6 months ago got it recharged and then it was blessedly cool it was summer in oz where i was. now im here. my ac is no longer cold. its not hot or the outside air temp which is 90f right now but it is definitely not cold. it should be i think since i distinctly remember setting it at #3 and being comfortable not having it at full bore and still being sweaty as i am now. also i can now hear the compressor or something coming on and off at intervals. its louder than it used to be. comes on and off though even if the ac is off - if the fans on i can hear this noise. could it be related yea normally im a little more um better at writing stressy day havent eaten anything more than a handful of m&ms since about 530am. schools back on so traffic sucks. yea im a bit cranky and brain dead. jmc off to find something to eat and a swimming pool. wont know until you put some gages on it and check the pressure. i think most systems go bad due to leaks. not a mechanic so i guess its to the shop and whats wrong with my ac. actually i do suspect a leak. damn! jmc .
From : geekboy
2001 dakota. v8 4.7l engine. ac started blowing hot about 6 months ago got it recharged and then it was blessedly cool it was summer in oz where i was. now im here. my ac is no longer cold. its not hot or the outside air temp which is 90f right now but it is definitely not cold. it should be i think since i distinctly remember setting it at #3 and being comfortable not having it at full bore and still being sweaty as i am now. also i can now hear the compressor or something coming on and off at intervals. its louder than it used to be. comes on and off though even if the ac is off - if the fans on i can hear this noise. could it be related yea normally im a little more um better at writing stressy day havent eaten anything more than a handful of m&ms since about 530am. schools back on so traffic sucks. yea im a bit cranky and brain dead. jmc off to find something to eat and a swimming pool. wont know until you put some gages on it and check the pressure. i think most systems go bad due to leaks. .