A/C Died

[Viper5]

Lately my 2000 S is not blowing cold air. It is just ambient temperature. I've never dealt with this system before and would like to know probable causes from most likely to least likely if possible. I'm guessing I may need more freon but thats just speculation. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks.

[jhandy]

first check all fuses.
Is the snow flake on the display?
change the temp control, does it get hot? then a little cool?
if they are fine, then maybe a leak in the system. Listen for the AC clutch to engage and disengage. You can attach a pressure tester device, dont know if you would put it on the high or low side. Check on that...

If no leak, then the Ac compressor died.

There is also something else that controls the AC compressor. I know this because if you have the AC on, and then accelerate strongly, the AC compressor turns off to save it for HP.
Whatever does this, may be stuck in the "AC off" mode.
Someone else who knows more about that please speak up....

It may be the DME that does this.....if so, maybe unplug the battery and let it reset????

[Viper5]

All I can tell so far is that when I turn the a/c on, I can hear the engine area change sound like it is adjusting. Not sure how useful that is. Also, I have the service manual and it says it could be 3 different things, one of which is the amount of refrigerant too low or high.

The snow flake is on the display. If I'm not mistaken that is the compressor symbol right? I thought that was just a software thing and not related to whether the compressor was working or not.

I am actually trying to work on a CEL (not related to a/c) so I did disconnect the battery. I'm about to go out for a drive to test some things so will report back on the a/c issue.

[Viper5]

After asking around it seems that I am low on refrigerant. There appear to be two different places to insert the can. One is low and one is high I think. Which one is which?

[Jake D]

I forget which one is which. They are up by the battery. My car had the same issue last year. Just needed a little boost in freon and it was good to go. Out of curiosity more than anything, I took off the access panel in the cabin and actually watched the clutch kick on and off on the compressor. I mainly just wanted to see the engine for the first time.

[san rensho]

Originally Posted by Viper5

After asking around it seems that I am low on refrigerant. There appear to be two different places to insert the can. One is low and one is high I think. Which one is which?

The hose will only fit on one, the high side and low side have different size connectors so you can't make a mistake. Depending on how much you have to put in, you might want to get one can of refrigerant with oil.

The $25 starter kit with a reusable hose with a guage is one of the best investments I've mad.

[Cloudsurfer]

Really? Just take it to an A/C shop and have it done right. First off, if the system is lacking refrigerant, it went somewhere, so first you need to find the source of the leak. Then, you need to pull a good vacuum down on the system. Then, you must charge it with the correct amount of refrigerant, with the appropriate percentage of oil to properly lubricant the compressor.

[Viper5]

I was able to measure it today and determined that it is has an excessive psi. What could this mean?

[Jake D]

Mine read higher than normal last year too. I still put some in and that fixed it. What kind of numbers are you talking?

The only other thing I can recall with doing A/C work and having excessive pressure is that you could have a blockage somewhere causing more pressure. But I think if that's the case then the other line should read low. I wasn't certified to mess with A/C stuff so most of the time when it came to the freon end of the job, my boss would jump in and finish it up.

[Viper5]

I should have been more specific. I am talking around 120 psi. It is in the red on my guage. I was speaking with somebody else at autozone and he too thought it was blockage. How can I resolve this?