Air Compressor Short Cycle

[drewsky06]

I have a '95 Acclaim and with the heat I've been using the air conditioning more. Well, today we put some freon in it (a can and a half!) and then noticed that the compressor was short cycling, running for just a few seconds, sometimes not even that, before shutting off. As you can imagine this made for a rather uncomfortable ride home as the cool air came like a breeze at at baseball game, few and far between but very welcome when you get it. We have tested the voltage and it's getting a full 12. We just can't figure out what is making it do this. All we did was add freon and tighten the AC belt, but to my knowledge the problem didn't exist before we did that. Thanks for any help!

[Stealthee]

You may have overcharged the system.

[brcidd]

I agree- sounds like too much refrigerant- system is cutting out due to high pressure- are cooling fan(s) working? You may have a blockage in air flow through condenser and/or radiator- does it need cleaned?

Too much refrigerant will also cause high pressure cycling- small systems are really sensitive to refrigerant amounts- just the slightest amount extra can cause your issue- I recommend recovering all the refrigerant, and having the under hood specified amount put back in, then see what happens.