wojtekk

I’ve been having some issues with my A/C.

The A/C will work for a little while, but the harder I drive the car (highway) or the hotter it is outside, it will only last for a couple of minutes.

I took it to a mechanic and was told I had a leak in the system, so I replaced the high line and pressure switch.

But the problem persists, a couple of minutes of cold air followed by nothing.

The mechanic told me that its possible that the spec from Mitsubishi is wrong and he put too much refrigerant after the last work was done. He recommends draining some and that should prevent from the system shutting itself down.

The only other thing I noticed, that since this problem started, there is no condensation under the car, the pavement is bone dry when the A/C works.

Can someone please help before I go back to the mechanic and pay more for nothing?

Wojtek

ear60008

iTrader: (2)

Like higher rmps it is colder then lower and the air blows warm?

wojtekk

It seems to have more to do with engine temperature than RPM's

Cruising at highway speed tends to make the A/C last shorter that city driving.

If the outside temperature is not very hot (like early morning or late evening, the A/C tends to last the longest.

wojtekk

The mechanic spoke with Mitsubishi and was told that the specified amount of R341 is something too much for the lancer, and some cars need to have some gas released. So the mechanic took out 2 grams.

2 blocks down the road, the A/C died.

Any ideas of what I can do?

Please help

Wojtek

rcheung

iTrader: (15)

wojtekk

I took the car to an A/C specialist.

After 2 hours of labour, he adjusted the tension on the clutch assembly, apparently it was slipping causing the A/C to stop working.

The A/C works perfect, maybe even better than new.

Thanks for all your help and feedback

Wojtek

NMotion

Sounds like the same problem that I've been having. I took it to be recharged at Brake Masters (stupid mistake) and my AC worked for a little bit. About a month later it would stop working after a while. I took it back and they said it was an electrical issue that they couldn't fix. So I took it to the Mitsubishi dealer and they ended up stating that it was undercharged so they evacuated it, recharged it, and it worked for about 4-5 blocks and then stopped. It works early in the day and later in the evening but not when it's the hottest in the middle of the day. I took it back to the dealer and after they consulted with a technical help line with Mitsubishi I was told that it is a thermal switch causing the compressor to run until it freezes and then the compressor won't go on until it thaws. I was told that the switch is in the dash near the heater box (my 2002 Lancer OZ Rally heater knob finally broke of because of the blender door issue which is well known) and was going to cost about $1100 total because of all the labor.

Now, reading the previous post about tightening the clutch on the compressor, I'm wondering if the same thing isn't going on with mine. So my question is, for those with more mechanical knowledge than me, does the thermal switch theory make sense or are they just swinging in the dark. Any help would be great because it's getting to be too uncomfortable for my 3 year old son but I don't want to drop $1100 for a fix that might not work. Thanks.