A/C compressor

[pdaddy05]

A/C COMP clicking on and off when running HELP!

 

[350TPI]

I always thought that if the compressor kicked off and on a alot more than normal that the freon was low.ANyone else know for sure?

 

[naval-avi8or]

I always thought that if the compressor kicked off and on a alot more than normal that the freon was low.ANyone else know for sure?

Probably just needs some freon. If its just been serviced then it may have been over serviced. Last but not least the clutch air gap maybe showing initial sign of needing regapped.

 

[INDO SHO]

My 92 had the same problem simply reseting the idle properly and running the a/c on max for a few minutes while the computer relearns the proper adjustments needed for ac load ect. Mine took about 4 and a half minutes to fix its worth a shot

 

[greg geraci]

my problem was in the pressure switch in the front of the car. It's on the dryer. My compressor kicked on and off with exact intervals ....about a 2 second pause in between. Take the connector off jump out the switch, if it holds on you know what the problem is. I paid 30.00 for the switch. worked perfect ever since
Try it.
greg

 

[SASHO91]

Rule of thumb...
compressor should not cycle more than 3 times per minute.

Im leaning toward the system being low on frion.

If you do not know anything about the a/c system, i would either a) take it to an A/C shop and have them diagnosis it. B) buy the "kit" from Autozone that has a "gauge" on it. However, if this is on a R-12 system option B is out of the question. R-12 is anything from 93 and under.

 

[greg geraci]

This forum is all about saving our members money trying not to spend money.Try to make all checks before spending money. Thats the beauty of this forum, They have directed me to alot of different directions resulting in nothing but solutions. Give it a chance before you go out and spend.

 

[SASHO91]

Well, if he has no idea on what needs to be done, and doesnt know anything about the a/c system(no offense to the poster) he can really screw the a/c system up, ( which will be even more $$$$) or really hurt himself in the process.

Now if he were to take his car and get a pressure check done to it (thats all) and come back here with the results, we can point him in the right direction, the first time.
I say spend the little money now to get the system checked out(hooking gauges up, and finding out the pressures) instead of us trying to give you different possible answers(which there is alot of), which would take more time and possibly more money.

 

[greg geraci]

No offense to you but i have noticed on your past two threads you just reccomend to take the cars to an a/c shop where they are going to rape him especially if he doesn't know any thing about a/c's. what this forum is all about is taking the time to TEACH the non mechanically inclined owners of the sho so that he can keep his car running with little monies. The only way for that is for all of us to show the necessary Basic checks before he has to take his car to a shop or pay for help. I have to thank steve Project 89, shobill1, Bizzy, Brian and Bob from sho Bros for taking the time to help me and explain to me with great patience in order for me to keep my sho on the road spending no monies for trouble shooting or taking it to a shop.There are 3 - 4 basic checks he can do by himself on his a/c system before throwing in the towel and spending money for some one else to do the same thing he can do. If those checks out to be ok, then he should take his car to a shop.
If he wants to I'll take the time to help him just as evey one helped me. he can Private message me and I'll go over it with him with the proceedures, And rest assure always safety first.
Greg

 

[SASHO91]

The only reason i tell them to take it to an A/C shop, is that with the actual high and low side readings we can get a better understanding of what all is going on. Yes, it may be somwhat expensive to go to an A/C shop, but its well worth it. The kits at A-Z (other than the actual gauges) that hook up to one side, are pretty useless, other then them telling you if the pressure is "GREEN"....

Yes you are correct there are certain things that can be done to check the A/C system before heading off to the shop. But when a person that does not know anything about it tries to fix it, they can damage the system.. which would be a high bill down the line.

What im getting at, is with the gauge readings, we can pretty much tell you what the problem is right of the bat. It is much easier to do it this way(may be alittle more expensive) and get it right the first time, then doing it the other way (which could also be MORE expensive.. buying pressure switches, recharge kits, etc..) and taking more time to track down the culprit.

Were both trying do the same thing here. Its just we have different views on the way to get it done. With no offense to you, I prefer knowing what pressures im working with. Those give you answers to your questions. May take alittle troubleshooting, but IMO its still faster than changing out switches, and recharging a unknown state of charge system, let alone the time to go to the Parts store to pick up the parts/kit.

I see were your coming from though. We ARE here to help him figure out a way to do things easier, faster, and if at all possible cheaper. Sometimes we need to look past that a do what needs to be done. IMO.
No hard feelings Greg.
Josh.

 

[greg geraci]

Thanks for understanding Josh, were here to help not send them away. As I said if he looks me up on the members list I'll be more than happy to take the time and help him make his basic checks on his a/c system.
He better do it soon though I'm leaving for Europe.
so long

g

 

[93silverbulletSH0]

Well I realized that my car had a problem after reading this thread. My symptoms were the same as greg geraci's, so I jumped the switch like he said and the compressor stayed on like he said. I then proceeded to purchase this $30 switch, put it in, and still had the same problem. I then realized jumping the switch doesn't necessarily show whether or not the switch is malfunctioning- in this case it was doing its job: regulating the pressure in the system. If the system's pressure can't be held within the proper range, i.e.: the refrigerant is low, it is going to switch on and off a lot. Jumping out the switch just takes the system's pressure out of the equation making it think the pressure is low and keeping the compressor on. This is obviously a bad idea and potentially dangerous. For him it must have just been a coincidence, or maybe he knew his system was otherwise in good working condition so there was only the one variable. I guess the moral of the story is there are a lot of variables that need to be checked before spending money. This was said by the previous posters in this thread including greg geraci, and I should have listened to their good advice... that 30 bucks could have went towards a pressure test or a top off. Oh well.

 

[SASHO91]

Jumping out the switch just takes the system's pressure out of the equation making it think the pressure is low and keeping the compressor on.

Yes and no...
Im not sure if the SHO's system has a high and low pressure switch on the R-12 system. I know that the R-134a does have both.

If its the high pressure switch, you can blow the compressor up. If its the low pressure switch you can fry, and possibly blow the compressor up.

each switch has an operating range.


That is why I was stating what i did. Sometimes it is just a swtich, or a vaccum line, or even a faulty connection somewhere. But you have to look at all those, and if you take the other direction, you would end up replacing stuff that didnt need to be replaced. However, getting the pressure readings, its alot easier, faster, and in most cases less expensive.

A friend of mine was having problems with his system. Come to find out it was just a switch. So he just bypassed the switch with a jumper. Now i checked his system and made sure everything was ok... as long as the system is operating normally, there is no problem with doing this. Other then the Evaporator may freeze up.. but being from Texas that probably wont happen.

Have you figured out whats wrong with your system yet? Sounds like its low on Frion. which is normal.

 

[93silverbulletSH0]

Yeah, I figure it is low on freon too. It's not the clutch air gap, since it worked properly when I jumped it. It's a R-12 system, and as far as I can tell there is only the one switch, so that leaves me with the freon. Luckily I know a mechanic who can still get his hands on it, so i'm taking it to him monday for a pressure test and a recharge. It was last recharged when the lines were replaced-about 33k mi. ago, is it normal for it to go down that fast? I'll probably have him add some dye too.

 

[SASHO91]

No, it shouldnt loose that much in that amount of time......

Dye, really doesnt help much, as it is carried along with the oil in the system. So if you have a leak big enough to see the dye, you will see the oil first.

however if he was to use nitrogen before he recharged the system.. well thats a different story then.

 

[93silverbulletSH0]

Hmmm... what does nitrogen do, sounds interesting.

 

[naval-avi8or]

Hmmm... what does nitrogen do, sounds interesting.

Nitrogen replaces the small amount of air that doesn't get vaccuumed out when pulling a vaccuum on the system. Nitrogen is dryer gas than air.

 

[rangerj]

An automotive A/C system is a sealed system. If the system is low on refrigerant then it has a leak. Before spending a lot of money on a refrigerant R-12 charge (very expensive) look for the leak. Check at all of the A/C system connections for a black oily residue. Check the compressor heads at the front and rear of the compressor for an "O" ring seal leak. And lastly check the compressor shaft seal behind the compressor clutch and clutch coil assembly. You may be able to see behind the clutch coil with a small mechanics mirror, but removing the clutch and coil assembly is the best way to look for a shaft seal leak, unless the leak is very obvious. You should also look for any of the same signs of black residue on the A/C condenser (in front of the radiator). An A/C evaporator core leak is very unlikely, but possible. The leaks are usually at the "O" ring connections, the A/C compressor shaft seal, or a pin hole leak in the condenser (stone hit or corrosion).

You may be able to get away with just adding a charge, but this is doubtful. A/C leaks do not get better with time. The usually get worse.