A/C Issues

[The Fast Forester]

2001 Ram 1500, 5.9L, 94,000 miles. Towed the boat, topper, 4 people and their gear about 1,000 miles round trip in some pretty hot weather across the Great Plains and Sandhills. A/C started acting up, noticed the accumulator (cannister on firewall) was really wet (maybe frozen at one point?). Had to turn the A/C off occasionally when it stopped blowing cold, then turn it back on and it was fine. Do I need a charge of fluid, or might there be another issue I need to look into? FYI, temp guage on truck ran cool the whole way, less than 200. Thanks for any input.

[angus10]

You need to check the pressure on the low side.

[The Fast Forester]

Not sure what you mean angus?

[angus10]

You need a gauge to check the pressure at the low side AC port,(the one closest to the accum/dryer.When it starts blowing hot air is the compressor running?

[jdmccright]

Manifold gauges are better at trying to diagnose A/C problems as you can see the pressure difference between the high and low sides and how they change as the system runs.

That being said, my first guess would be that you have water condensate in the system and it is icing up in the accumulator and/or orifice tube or causing it to get clogged.

Easiest way would be to have a technician check it out, but if you're interested in learning, Haynes makes a decent repair manual specifically for A/C systems...it's info overload in the beginning, but very handy knowledge. Good luck!

[The Fast Forester]

Thanks for the info fellas, I appreciate it. I took the boat to storage today (about 45 minutes round trip), A/C worked fine. Shut it off for a few minutes while unloading the boat. I'll get this checked next time I take it to the shop. Thanks again