Holy Crap it got hot here in St.Louis today. My a/c was ice cold on the way to work @ 6:15, but i got in to come home @ 4:00 and all i got was hot air. i've checked all of my fuses and did find one vac line that was off under the intake manifold by the firewall, but still no cold air. Any ideas?
Thanks,
Jeremy

 

with the car runing and the AC ON check if the ac compressor clutch is activated. If it is not then the problem is low pressure in the system and you may have a leak. You should have it checked out with a leak detector or dye set-up by a pro. If it doesactivate the clutch and you have no cold air then you may have a blend door problem.

 

ok, how do i know if the a/c clutch is activated? i believe that the compressor kicks on, because a load is placed on the engine and the rpms jump a bit.
thanks again,
jeremy

 

You can hear it click over.

 

thanks. i'll go check it out now.

 

all i can actually hear is the fan kicking on???

 

Do this. Sit in the car, turn the control to max A/C with the blower in the off position. Now click it up to 1 and you should see the RPM's rise slightly and the Vacume increase on your boost guage if you have one. You should be able to see it by watching the tach, though. Chance are if the fans are kicking on so is the compressor, but thtas not 100 percent. If worse comes to worse take it to the dealer.

 

this happened to my evo... a road debris made its way between the radiator and AC condensor. Then vibrations caused a major hole in the AC condensor... check if your AC condensor has any damage

 

ok, the rpm's jumped up about 500 rpm's and the vaccum jumped up as well... does that mean that the compressor is doing it's job?

 

It means its kicking on, but does not mean theres no problem. You could have taken damage somewhere and leaked all your freon. I would check the condensor and all the lines for any obvious problems. If no luck your gonna have to take it in and have it checked for leaks.

 

yeah, i'll put it up tomorrow and check it out. of course i'm out of warranty now....

 

Have you driven it since nightfall in the cooler temps to see if its working any beter? I know sometimes when its killer hot out in the middle of the day the AC does'nt feel as cool in my car.

 

yeah, i tried that tonight. but believe me, it's nowhere near cold.

 

If the compressor still kick in and your AC is not cold, your car probably don't have enough Freon R-134 gas.

There is an observation windows on the AC line. Turn on the AC and look at the small windows. If you see air bubbles, you need more R-134.

Hope I still get the knowledge. My mechanics knowledge is getting rusty.

 

well i checked it out when i got to work today. the sight glass has nothing going on in it and the ine it's on is not cold at all. the other line is smoking hot. any more ideas before i go nuts and have to fork out $$$?
thanks,
jeremy