when i first bought the car the ac would work almost instantly, but now it would take atleast 15-20 min to get cold after the recharge (recharge was done at a shop) what could be the problem that i can check out myself before i take it to the mechanic.

 

What happened to me to solve mildly cold a/c air.

Look almost right below the glovebox on the left, almost behind the head unit. There is a piece of plastic cover there. Behind that is the piece that controls whether the heater hose or cold air hose is open/closed. If you have someone turn the hot/cold air **** you will see it. What my problem was is when the **** was set full cold, the piece would turn like another half inch, as if the cable n eeded adjusted. Right now I just left it like that and have nice cold air quick

 

An additional component to look at is the hot water control valve. It is controlled by a 14" cable which runs from a white nylon lever on the rear of your heater control to the value. Ideally, it should be adjusted to be full closed at the full cold position at the heater control, and full open when the temp control **** selects full heat. Sometimes it becomes misadjusted.

A partially discharged system will also exibit a slow cool down
Inoperative radiator / condenser cooling fans (both operate full time with the A/C on) will also exibit a slow cool down
A recharge with too much refrigerant oil can also

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