Clevor

The air has been steadily getting warmer. It's still slightly cool now, but when I turn on the A/C, the condensor fan runs constantly, but the compressor does not seem to cycle. Any ideas?

Does a code reader diagnose A/C problems? Because I just bought a highly rated Buke and when I hook it up and turn the A/C on and off and look for codes, it says no codes found.

tim73

Sounds like you may be low on refrigerant. Code reader won't diagnose an ac fault.

Salient

You can recharge it yourself and it's very easy to do. Go to your local walmart or autoparts store and get an A/C recharge kit for around $30-$40. There are instructions on how to charge your system so make sure you read those carefully. You can overcharge your A/C system and damage it to the point where it will never work and it will cost you a lot of money to get it fixed. Take your time and be cautious.

v4lu3s

Hook up a set of ac gauges. The high side and low side pressure will tell you what is wrong.

1yesfan

just throw in a can of stuff from your local parts store. Mine was empty when I got it. Not enough to turn the compressor on. I put a can in and she is cold as ice.

Clevor

I guess I'll give those A/C recharge kits a try. I'm moving overseas soon and don't have time to properly diagnose the problem before I put the car in storage. I have the gauges, vacuum pump, leak detector, and R-134 somewhere, but don't know where all the connectors are.

Salient

Clevor, this video should help you out;

Clevor

I tried a can of that recharge stuff and my A/C is nice and cold now. The brand I used had a gauge on it.

Only thing is when I charged the system, I got it between the right range, but when I tried to add more refrigerant to get the reading a little higher in the range, the pressure seemed to drop below the range. Tried this twice. I thought maybe I got a leak, but then again, the system couldn't be leaking THAT fast.

The compressor does seem to be running a bit long, however. But I'm leaving the U.S. this Thursday. If I had time, I'd try to find any leaks in the system (from O-rings) and replace that and evacuate the system and recharge from scratch but no time.

rockycat

The low side will get lower as the ac is run.

masospaghetti

The fact that your system was low to begin with means you have a leak. Those stop-leak products don't work very well either.

But the pressure varies with temperature so you may get fluctuation in the pressure readings as the refrigerant gets colder. If you reduce the fan blower speed, or if ambient temperatures drop, you will get lower indicated pressures on your gauges.

I stay away from those recharge "kits" because they normally had additives and oils that a properly maintained system doesn't need or want, such as stop leak products and "universal" type A/C oils. It's better to buy pure R134a.

It would be a good idea to get some UV dye and inject it into your system to find out what is leaking. It's not uncommon for the service ports to be the source of the leak.

Clevor

I think the system is OK now. Compressor doesn't run all that long. It's hard to ascertain when it's running now so I suppose that is a good thing.

I bought the car two years ago and the A/C slowly got warmer as time went on but nothing intolerable so I don't think the leak is massive. Yes, it was down to no pressure when I charged it.