intermittent A/C problem

[Jason Baker]

Hi all,

My A/c on my 95 atx 3.2l sho is acting strange. About a month ago when I had the car inspected they left it running after they done while I paid for the inspection. When I first drove into the shop my a/c was working fine and blowing cold. When I got in the car to leave the shop the a/c was blowing warm air. I turned the system off for about 10 minutes while I was driving down the road. When I turned the system back to auto it worked just like it should. This morning I got stuck behind a crane and had to sit there for a few minutes, a few minutes later as I was driving through the parking garage it stopped blowing cold again. I tried turning it to max and to defrost but nothing would make it work. I checked under the hood and as I suspected the clutch was not engaged. I turned the car off for a minute and started it back up but it still did not work. After about 30 minutes I went back out to the garage and started the car and the a/c worked fine just like it should.

 

[SHO_Driver]

You can start by troubleshooting it when the compressor won't spin with the a/c on. Try shorting the cycling switch, if it turns on and blows cold you may need to replace that switch. If nothing, try knocking on the compressor, if it activates you might need to adjust the a/c clutch air gap.

 

[rangerj]

Jason,

As stated above check the pressure switch and the clutch gap (approximately .035). You can jumper the low pressure switch to make sure that the clutch coil works also. Make sure that your cooling fan(s) is working also. An A/C system works by exchanging heat, so the cooling fan is a critical part of the system. That is why it is on any time the A/C is on. With the A/C on, check to make sure the radiator fan is running.

If none of the aforementioned work then pressure test the system. Look for black oily dirt at the connections, behind the clutch coil and on the condenser in front of the radiator. The oily dirt is the sign of a leak of refrigerant and oil. If the system is low on refrigerant charge it has a leak. rangerj

 

[projectSHO89]

rangerj covered the procedures of what to check quite well.

Here's the most common reason for the symptoms you described: SHOTimes Clutch Gap Procedure

Steve

 

[Jason Baker]

Thanks for the responses guys. I'll give these things a try when I get home. I was figuring it had something to do with the controls since ti works if you turn it off for a while. But I will definately look into the clutch gap. As for the rad. fan, it is working it does come on when you turn the system on.