hello all,

it's been a while that my ac is doing this. When outside temperature is really hot outside, car is stopped or stalling, in a traffic light and such the ac starts heating up a whole lot. After i move for a while the ac starts cooling down again. At first i thought it was a bad fan and low refrigerant thing. one fan was not starting correctly because the jumper plug from one to the other had burnt. took it to a specialist and he checked the refrigerant but still, everything is the same.

yesterday, i noticed that after the ac starts heating back up, you don't hear the compressor click in. it doesn't matter if i turn the ac on or off it just wont click in unless i turn the car off, wait around 5 minutes and start again.
both high pressure and low pressure lines get real hot when this is going on.

for some reason i have a feeling a pressure switch or the clutch may be bad instead of the compressor itself.

any suggestions?

ps. taking it to a mechanic without knowing the actual issue is a no-go... and the dealership solves everything with "replace it new" and they were about to charge 2 grand for the repair, so i do want to go to an ac specialist but don't feel like going in blind. Plus, if you guys know of any parts i may need, would rather order them and they'll just have to replace them...

 

your low pressure lines should never be hot. Are you sure its a low pressure line? You need a gauge set to accurately diagnose A/C. You need to see what the pressures are. Did you get the fan fixed?

 

Low pressure line is the one that runs next to the engine and is bigger than the other one. Plus it has a little cap with "L" on it .
And yes, the fans are working properly.

last time we put the pressure gauge on it the refrigerant was a little low so it could be very slowly leaking it, could be the reason why the pressure switch does not trigger the clutch to work in.

 

Try this

 

thanks,
went step by step (most of the time) and the electrical seems to be just fine.
rechecked the pressure and it seems low. any of you know the exact specs it needs to have?
noticed something new though, what could cause the clutch to click in and out repeatedly when you accelerate or decelerate at low revs??

 

Here are some basic pressures.

 

I have the same problem with my 2011 lancer es, and i found that one of the times it heated up it was making a strange noise, so i popped the hood and seen sparkes shooting out of the compressor clutch. I am currently looking to replace the compressor and having a hard time finding one that fits. Could you send me a pic of your compressor I have a couple of website already saved for the bigger type compressor if thats what you have.

 

that'd be great! Dealer asked me for 2000 bucks for the AC repair (and they say it's just the compressor... 1000 for the compressor)

You sure you need to replace the whole compressor? if its just the clutch shooting sparks you can have someone take it apart... odd though, that's only supposed to be an electromagnet and it being broken doesn't really mean a damage to the compressor itself.

 

I actually did find the compressor clutch kit from mitsubishiautomotiveparts .com so im going to order it and replace my clutch. Dealership here quoted 800 to do the clutch and 1250 to do the entire compressor. I'll just pay the 222 for the clutch kit and do it myself.

 

so i got the car back from the shop and the guy said all they found wrong was the condenser was hell dirty... yet the dealer wanted to charge 2000 for the whole repair...
i'll test it for a while and report back if anything comes up.

thank you very much guys!

 

back in...
turns out cleaning out the condenser only made it a little more efficient.
once the A/C starts heating up a bit, I rev up the car for a little while (2 - 3k rpm) and the cool air starts pumping in. Its like either the compressor is losing efficiency or the clutch isn't making enough contact.

 

Ya man your ac is doing the exact same thing as mine is doing. It heats up at idle but if i give it some gas it gets cold as a well diggers ***. Does your ac look like mine or is it bigger?




If so I am having problems getting the entire compressor I did locate the compressor kit, and can give you the link. Also could you send me a picture of your compressor if it different to see if i can retrofit the old compress rather than this new compressor.

 

the compressor is designed to shut off when the pressure gets too low. id try adding refrigerant 1st if you haven't already tried.,it's very easy. go the autoparts store and get a can of 134a with a gauge built on it.

 

We put some refrigerant in it not long ago before i started this thread, it improved, but it wasnt that good.

Still working on it. havent had time to take it to a shop to have it fully checked again.
a buddy of mine that works on old cars over at the states (i'm from the dominican rep.) checked it and he says it seems to be the pressure switch. But he aint sure.

for now i'm waiting on a friend to lend me his compressor and have it installed just to check.

 

Fixed my AC issue today:
https://www.evolutionm.net/forums/la...lancer-es.html