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Asleep Style posted:thanks for posting this thread. I was hopeful that my 2011 honda fit just needed a recharge, but after hooking up the manifold gauges it turns out the low side pressure is too high. the compressor never kicks on, though it spins freely when turned by hand. I was able to verify that the compressor clutch is getting voltage, but it won't engage. now I have to decide if this is something I'm willing to tackle on my own or if I should just take it in How easy is it to access the compressor? Do you have a decent bit of room to get at the front of it to pull the clutch and coil off, or would you have that room if you unbolted the compressor but left it on the hoses? Also, have you verified 12V with an actual load? On my old Grand Cherokee, I skipped that part and I regretted it - my digital meter showed 12V, but after further testing (which I only did after I botched a coil install and had to slam a new compressor anyway) I discovered that there was a high-resistance connection in line. So any load beyond "digital meter" would cause the voltage to plummet, and the coil to lose enough energy that the clutch would open up. All of that work, when the root cause was something I fixed by cleaning contacts and zip-tying the two connector halves together.
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Jun 22, 2021 19:24
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| # ¿ May 9, 2024 06:31 |
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Picture because why the hell not: TJ's air conditioning was short cycling and doing fuckall. Can't find any obvious signs of a leak, and when I hooked it up pressures were just barely low enough to confirm no liquid in the system. Took most of a can before it stopped short cycling and held steady at the pressures shown here (about 32 low, 180 high). Temps are about 75-80 and 100% humidity, seeing as it was raining most of the time I was working. Vent temps got down to 39 after charging. The only thing slightly odd is that the FSM's published pressures want to see a lot more high side than I'm getting:  I'm going to let it be for a while because it's definitely working better now. If it acts up again, the FSM's diagnostics point towards a restricted accumulator, restricted evaporator, or a dud compressor. Also ordering a leak sniffer because for less than $30, that seems better than injecting dye.
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Jul 23, 2021 23:44
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https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07GKXD6FF/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 That's the one I ordered. Should be here tomorrow and I might give it a wave around. One thing I forgot to mention earlier: all of the lines from the condenser through to the evaporator coil were cold with the system running. I'd expect the accumulator/evaporator to be cold, but should the output of the condensor also be cold?
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Jul 24, 2021 00:18
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This was sitting around idling forever while I was charging it, so nothing but engine-fan airflow. I did some driving around and checked closer. Immediately off the condenser the line feels about ambient, starting maybe six inches at most towards the evaporator the line is cold to the touch. It's also soaking wet from condensation all the way from there to the evaporator, and again from the evaporator towards the compressor (didn't bother feeling/checking all the way to the suction port because the compressor is buried a bit under the PS pump). So there appears to be some possible restriction in the liquid line, but not enough to prevent it from cooling drat well on an unusually cool and wet day. I'm sure we'll be back to 105+ degrees soon enough to see how it handles that.
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Jul 24, 2021 02:35
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Also realistic. Jeep does have nearly 200k miles on it, actual mileage unknown depending on how long the original owner ran it with 33s and an uncalibrated speedometer.
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Jul 24, 2021 02:53
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Got the sniffer today and gave it a test. It works, but I'm not entirely certain how to interpret the results. The only places I got a hit on were the high and low side service ports. Only after unscrewing the protective caps, and only on the low side after cranking the sensitivity all the way up. The high side it picks up more readily. Decided to check against the only other R134a system I have (the C10) and on that it also trips on the high port only, but not at quite the same level, and the low side port doesn't trigger it at all. I'm still leaning heavily towards "leave it" but if it goes low again the next thing I'll put in will be a new set of valves.
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Jul 24, 2021 23:20
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My experience so far with Vintage Air is... buying the kit sitting waiting to replace the janky half-factory setup in my C10. Parts look to be decent enough quality, but plan on buying a crimper too because they aren't giving you ready-to-use hoses.
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Jul 25, 2021 01:20
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Yeah, they have a kit specific to replacing the factory air in a C10. Custom-fit air box that moves everything to the interior side of the firewall, controls that bolt into the factory location, and adapts to the factory vents. I ended up buying through a local VA dealer but everything still got drop-shipped from VA.
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Jul 25, 2021 07:26
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Yes, there's a low pressure cutoff switch that protects the compressor. The fact that it drops to zero at all says the compressor is at least trying to kick on, otherwise there should be no difference in pressure running or not.
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Aug 5, 2021 14:54
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Seems like the point on a puncturing tap isn't going to reliably push the valve open. Which reminds me I should probably pick up a new can tap since I'm almost out of puncture-style R134a cans.
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Oct 4, 2021 01:58
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BigPaddy posted:Reason I am making the lines myself to begin with is no ac repair place was interested in making custom lines because hey the owner has been loving around with it and will blame us it it doesn’t work!!! That said it needs an alignment and most of those places will do charges as well but I would like to be able to test that is holds pressure as well. I had a place in Mesa that did one-off lines for me once but that was approximately forever ago and I can't find the receipt, and nothing on Google Maps looks like what I thought it was. Had them do it at the same time as a pinion seal fix. They didn't even bat an eye. I wouldn't expect that much pushback if you find a shop that's at all capable/willing to build hoses. Even my Vintage Air kit came with "build it yourself" hoses. Bought a crimper kit but haven't gotten anywhere near around to putting that together.
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Jun 3, 2022 00:12
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Yes, there's no perfect seal on an air conditioning system with flexible hoses and very-imperfect service valves involved. Over the span of years those tiny losses add up to enough to degrade performance.
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Jun 9, 2022 02:25
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The plastic insert for shipping won't hold up to HVAC pressures, it's just there to keep poo poo out / keep the desiccant from getting ruined if that's the dryer.
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Apr 24, 2023 23:43
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IOwnCalculus posted:Got the sniffer today and gave it a test. It works, but I'm not entirely certain how to interpret the results. Oh hey guess who has a Jeep with poor A/C performance again almost exactly two years later. Ordered a set of service valves and caps, gonna swap them and give it a vac and fill.
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Jul 13, 2023 04:40
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| # ¿ May 9, 2024 06:31 |
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You need to diagnose it yourself before you load the parts cannon. Is the compressor clutch actually disengaging when the A/C isn't working? If it is, is it because of a pressure issue? Or a wiring issue? Or a bad pressure switch? Or is the coil itself bad? Or is the system icing up while the compressor runs anyway, resulting in no noticeable cooling? If the system is already evacuated then you're very limited on your ability to do this. Also, it is absolutely possible to have a failed compressor for any number of reasons that don't result in a locked up compressor pulley. I had the compressor shaft shear on my Canyon. Other times even if it is just a clutch or coil issue, replacing the whole compressor makes more sense than replacing the just the failed part (usually, hosed up pricing, or a compressor where you can't get the coil/clutch separately).
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Apr 30, 2024 08:23
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