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sounds like the air-conditioning expansion valve is probably not working correctly here is a way you can fix your air conditioning:
Realize that auto AC is basically a refrigerator in a weird layout. It's designed to move heat from one place (the inside of your car) to some other place (the outdoors). While a complete discussion of every specific model and component is well outside the scope of this article, this should give you a start on figuring out what the problem might be and either fixing it yourself or talking intelligently to someone you can pay to fix it.
Become familiar with the major components to auto air conditioning:
the compressor, which compresses and circulates the refrigerant in the system
the refrigerant, (on modern cars, usually a substance called R-134a older cars have r-12 freon which is becoming increasingly more expensive and hard to find, and also requires a license to handle) which carries the heat
the condenser, which changes the phase of the refrigerant and expels heat removed from the car
the expansion valve (or orifice tube in some vehicles), which is somewhat of a nozzle and functions to similtaneously drop the pressure of the refrigerant liquid, meter its flow, and atomize it
the evaporator, which transfers heat to the refrigerant from the air blown across it, cooling your car
the receiver/dryer, which functions as a filter for the refrigerant/oil, removing moisture and other contaminants
Understand the air conditioning process: The compressor puts the refrigerant under pressure and sends it to the condensing coils. In your car, these coils are generally in front of the radiator. Compressing a gas makes it quite hot. In the condenser, this added heat and the heat the refrigerant picked up in the evaporator is expelled to the air flowing across it from outside the car. When the refrigerant is cooled to its saturation temperature, it will change phase from a gas back into a liquid (this gives off a bundle of heat known as the "latent heat of vaporization"). The liquid then passes through the expansion valve to the evaporator, the coils inside of your car, where it loses pressure that was added to it in the compressor. This causes some of the liquid to change to a low-pressure gas as it cools the remaining liquid. This two-phase mixture enters the evaporator, and the liquid portion of the refrigerant absorbs the heat from the air across the coil and evaporates. Your car's blower circulates air across the cold evaporator and into the interior. The refrigerant goes back through the cycle again and again.
Check to see if all the R-134a leaks out (meaning there's nothing in the loop to carry away heat). Leaks are easy to spot but not easy to fix without pulling things apart. Most auto-supply stores carry a fluorescent dye that can be added to the system to check for leaks, and it will have instructions for use on the can. If there's a bad enough leak, the system will have no pressure in it at all. Find one of the valve-stem-looking things and CAREFULLY (eye protection recommended) poke a pen in there to try to valve off pressure, and if there IS none, that's the problem.
Make sure the compressor is turning. Start the car, turn on the AC and look under the hood. The AC compressor is generally a pumplike thing off to one side with large rubber and steel hoses going to it. It will not have a filler cap on it, but will often have one or two things that look like the valve stems on a bike tire. The pulley on the front of the compressor exists as an outer pulley and an inner hub which turns when an electric clutch is engaged. If the AC is on and the blower is on, but the center of the pulley is not turning, then the compressor's clutch is not engaging. This could be a bad fuse, a wiring problem, a broken AC switch in your dash, or the system could be low on refrigerant (most systems have a low-pressure safety cutout that will disable the compressor if there isn't enough refrigerant in the system).
Look for other things that can go wrong: bad switches, bad fuses, broken wires, broken fan belt (preventing the pump from turning), or seal failure inside the compressor.
Feel for any cooling at all. If the system cools, but not much, it could just be low pressure, and you can top up the refrigerant. Most auto-supply stores will have a kit to refill a system, and it will come with instructions. Do not overfill! Adding more than the recommended amount of refrigerant will NOT improve performance but actually will decrease performance. In fact, the more expensive automated equipment found at nicer shops actually monitors cooling performance real-time as it adds refrigerant, and when the performance begins to decrease it removes refrigerant until the performance peaks again.
I had the same problem as well...don't know the name of the part, but it was in the glove box and it was really cheap...works great now...i did it myself when my husband was at work...so you know it is easy to change!!! Good luck...
your split manifold located on the firewall that sends and directs the refrigerant from the front and rear depending on your setting on the dash is plugged or the climate control on the dash is not responding and there could be a fuse,relay,broken wire,but there cant be a leak or either side wouldn't cool
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over filling it was a big mistake, so was guessing. the freon is added by weight, from empty. not volume. if the compressor spins, and no cold air , then its a big problem the only tiny problem to cause this would be leaves packed in evaporator coil. (deep inside air box in cab) take it to a shop before you damage the compression and fill the whole thing full of metal chucks wrecking everything, at once $$$$ do not let the compressor run, if it dont get cold. do not. get it serviced.
If the system is charged with freon, and the compressor is running, you should have one cold line and one hot line in the engine compartment. That would mean the freon is flowing thru the system. If that is the case, you may have a blend door problem under the dash. The blend doors direct air thru the heater core and the evaporator core depending on the temp setting on the dash control.
Without gauges you can refill the unit by running the engine at about 3000 rpm. Turn AC on full speed. Then open the freon can a tad to get rid of any air in the line and connect it to the suction port. Open can full blast, shake it while upright and continue filling until the intake line going to compressor starts getting cold and sweats. Then stop. Air coming out of vents should be around 41 degrees.
Cabin filter if clogged will only impede air flow - not how cold it is. Actually, id the flow is impeded the air coming out will be colder since less is passing over the evaporator. But that could under certain conditions lead to the evaporator freezing up (then use outside air option instead of recirculated) to deal with situation. There- you are now an EXPERT!
Hello,
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Let me explain in layman's terms how the air conditioning (AC) system works and what could be happening to your car.
Like your body, the air conditioning compressor is the heart of the AC system, and Freon is the blood. The compressor pumps Freon throughout the AC system, either the older type R12 which costs as much as gold it seems these days, or the new environmentally-friendly R134A Freon. This Freon is a gas and liquid combination that is compressed and circulated throughout the air conditioning system. The compressed Freon is pushed through the system under pressure and is passed through different sized metal and rubber hoses and a special valve called an expansion valve that cause the gas to expand and contract.
This expansion and contraction makes the Freon gas very cold. This cold gas makes its way via metal lines into the dash area of your vehicle to the evaporator core. This evaporator core is like a small radiator, except it has cold Freon circulating inside and not hot antifreeze. A small fan (the AC blower fan which you control from the control panel on the dash) sits in front of the evaporator core and blows air across this cold evaporator and then through the vents inside your vehicle.
The other objective of the air conditioning system is to remove the heat from inside the cab of the vehicle. This heat is removed by the Freon with the help of the AC condenser located at the front of the car (usually in front of the radiator). The Freon coming back from the evaporator carries the heat from the cab to the condenser via rubber and metal hoses. Just like your radiator, the condenser is lightweight aluminum with many internal winding coils.
The Freon travels through these coils, and in between these coils are small slits or fins that the Freon is forced through. The condenser will have an electric cooling fan mounted in front or behind it to push or pull air through these fins to remove the heat from the Freon. Some vehicles still use the old fashioned fan blade driven by the engine to pull air across the radiator and the condenser.
Now I know that is just a tidbit of information on how the air conditioning system works, and it is very general, but I wanted you to know what to look for to give you insight as to what might be happening with your vehicle.
A few causes of low cooling efficiency or no cooling at all at idle are:
Lack of air flow across the condenser. Make sure the electric cooling fan motor near the condenser is coming on, or in models that are equipped with a fan blade make sure this fan is turning and is turning very fast.
Low Freon levels. Freon level and pressure should be checked by your certified air conditioning mechanic.
Overheating. If the engine is running hot or overheating, it can have a noticeable negative affect on the air conditioning system. Some cars have two electric cooling fans, one for the air conditioning condenser and the other for the radiator. Make sure they are both working properly. Usually at idle on a hot day with the AC on both fans will be on.
When the vehicle is traveling at freeway speeds, the compressor is pumping the Freon throughout the system much faster and harder than at idle. There is a dramatic increase in air flow across the condenser due to 55 mph winds, and the engine is usually operating at a cooler, more efficient temperature as well, thus allowing the air conditioning system to operate efficiently. Note: An air conditioning system that is somewhat low on Freon can still feel comfortable at freeway speeds due to the added air flow across the condenser which can overcome the ill effects of slightly low Freon. Periodic air conditioning performance checks by your mechanic are the best way to keep the system in great shape.
Go to your local auto parts purchase a a/c charge kit for about $69.00, find the low pressure(suction) fill port, there are two ports in every a/c system one is a low pressure side used primarily to fill a system with freon 123a or the like and it is the larger valve mounted on the line, then there is the dangerous high side valve, this is a smaller diameter valve mounted to a smaller diamet a/c line, this is under extreme pressure so donot attempt to fill this high side with freon as it can backfire on you and cause injury.
The low side fill kit will not fit on the high side port so thank godness for that.
start the vehicle put the a/c on full cold high blow fan speed, start filling the low side with a can of 123a freon+oil additive, which equals one pound of freon and check the inside a/c vents, getting cold? If its perfect then you are done, the system may have a very small slow leak and if it only takes a one pound can to fill it once or twice a year you are ok, if it takes more you may want to add a second pound can of freon 134a containing a dye additive that will work its way into the system and show you where the leaks are by exposing a color once it hits the air coming out of the systems defective seals etc.,also they sell a sealer + freon one pound can that can be used to try to fix the leak without having to get too expensive on the repairs.
A car's air conditioning system only hold like 2 3/4 pounds of freon, so in the event you happen to over fill the system a high pressure blow valve usually mounted on the a/c compressor will purge off the excess, but let me warn you they blow off without any warning and can startle you. Always think safety first, wear protective equipment. Work Smart, Work Safe.
Happy Motoring!!!
You may have created an over charged condition and at this point the a/c compressor will cut off on high head pressures. This can be verified by installing gauges to the systems high and low side service taps and reading the pressures.An overcharged system will start the compressor briefly but soon cuts off once pressure goes to 350 - 400 lbs on the high side. Acceptable pressures for this system should be no greater than 250 high and low suction should drop to 40-50 psi.You might recover the charge and evacuate the system,then try bringing the charge back to proper level.A sight glass in the reciever drier really helps determining proper fill.Once all bubbles have dissipated from the sight glass during charging ,one should stop at that point to avoid overfilling.Too much freon is worse than a low charge especially in hot ambient conditions....
you need to get it fixed maybee u have a hole in the lines a leak it blows cold only for 1 reason low freon .u could go to a car suplyer and get r12a and fill it at home
1st Thing,
Located Someone With a Set Of A/C Gauges 134A Freon,
Make Sure Your A/C System Has Enought Freon In It, There Is a Low Freon Pressure Switch
In The Electrical System, Usually, 50-60 PSIG or Less On The Gauges, Will Indicate Low Freon, When Freon Is Low The Compressor Is Dis-engaged To Prevent Compressor Damage.
1] Low Freon
2] Bad Low Pressure switch
3] Blowen Fuse[s]
4] Electrical Problem[s]
[a] Digital Climate Controlled ?
Climate Control Self Diagnose From Button's On Unit, OEM Manual Explains This,
If Yor Auto Has Digital Climate Control.
5] Bad Compressor DC Coil
Note: Does The Compressor Engage, Click-On When Button Is Pressed, But Getting
Only Warm Air?
Is One Of The Compressor Aluminum Tube's Cold, Be Careful Other Is Really Warm/Hot,
If Cold and or Sweating, Dripping Water [Normal], You Are Blending Hot Air w/Cold
Air At The Heater Blend Box, Making Warm Air.
If This Is So, If A Vaccum Controlled Temp Unit, Check For A Vaccum Hose Bad,
Should Be Either 1or 2 Vaccum Lines Going Into Firewall To Feed The Controller
Unit, If OK, Might Be a Bad Blend Box Diaphram, [Control's A/C air, Blocks Off
heater Coil Hot Air].
If Your Auto Is Vaccum Controlled, Can You Changed From Bottom, Dash,
Defrost Air Flow?, Yes, No Vaccum Lost Feeding Controller, Still Might Have
Bad Diaphram Blending Hot Air w/Cold If Your Have Cold Alum-Tubing In
engine Compartment.
If Digital Climate Controlled, Might have Diaphram's, Vaccum Controlled or
electrical Servo's Controlled vs Diaphram [Vaccum] Controlled.
This Might Help, Hopefully, This Is Just For Starter's, There More To Some System's
and Without The OEM Mgr's Manual[s] You/Be Would Be Lost, especially w/Electrical.
Later, God Bless
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