ac wont work

[atv087]

ok back to square one again. Mechanic i go to has no f***ing clue whats wrong with my ac says its either pinched wire or bad compressor or the climate control unit. And that id have to pay him 500$ and leave it for a week for him to try and figure it out and then its not guarenteed that he will know whats wrong with it. Any thing i can do at home to try and fix this i heard the idle in the car change when i first turn the climate control knob but it blows out hot air. Any clue what i should do?

[XGamesJ6]

Check the fuse for the AC, there should be one in the fuse panel somewhere, use the included sticker to find out which one and check it, theres also a relay that engages the AC compressor, if the fuse looks good then check the relay, When you turn on the climate control for MAX AC, the compressor will engage, and when it does it will put a considerate amount of load on the engine, so it kind of idles down at first. If all fuses and relays look good then check fuses for climate control, if any, you may just for the hell of it want to check all the fuses, one by one, just to ensure everythings workin. i say start from there. Sometimes the compressor doesnt click on if theres no pressure in the system, if all looks good, try recharging it, using a vaccum pump too, maybe go to a mechanic and have them do a quick little charge

[kmohr3]

Any decent mechanic could put guages on it and tell you if it has a charge within 5 minutes, then you'd have a little more to go on... If it's low on charge then you have to add and check for leaks - if it has a charge then you can check to see if the compressor is running. If it's not then you would check for power at the AC clutch and work your way back. I would think a good tech would be able to give you a pretty good idea within an hour's time.

Try taking it to an experienced AC repair shop.

[XGamesJ6]

By taking it to an experienced AC shop you could end up paying a lot of money, i recently fixed the AC in a cadillac, mechanic said that it need a whole new AC compressor/clutch, all i did was replace a 20 amp fuse, ac works better then ever

[kmohr3]

Also, if it's an R-12 system I would convert it over to R-134A at the same time, being a 92 it may be R-12.

[XGamesJ6]

in some rare cases ive heard, retrofitting the AC actually got them working again, i found it odd, but it seems to do the job for some people, either that or people are paranoid

[kmohr3]

I'm not sure what that last comment meant, but if the system is R-12 it makes good sense to switch over to the newer R-134A refrigerant. The R-134A is more readily available, and so far much cheaper than R-12. Also, anyone can buy R-134A over the counter, whereas you must be MACS certified to purchase R-12.

As far as the success rate converting systems to R-134A - almost 100%. We have upgraded hundreds of systems. Any vehicle that had an empty system was repaired and upgraded to R-134A. It's cheaper for the customer and more environment friendly.

Sure, checking the fuses is a good idea, and easy to do, but not always the cause of the problem.

[atv087]

fuses are all good i just got in from checking them is it possible that if i do the electrical thing with the paper clip under the silver thing that the hoses go it to it could work.

[atv087]

fuses are all good i just got in from checking them is it possible that if i do the electrical thing with the paper clip under the silver thing that the hoses go it to it could work.

[atv087]

is there a diode for the ac on this car and if not could i jump the fuse or whatever is under the dome

[kmohr3]

I'm not sure about a diode on this car without looking at a factory wiring diagram. Also, I'm not sure what you mean jumping a fuse under the dome. Maybe you are talking about the low-pressure switch on the accumulator under the hood?? If so, jumping that switch may make the compressor come on, especially if the system is low on freon. That is basically the function of the low-pressure switch - to interrupt the flow of electricity to the compressor clutch when the system is low on freon. So if the compressor comes on when you do this it will not fix your AC problem but just signify that your system is low or empty. You will still, more than likely, have to deal with finding and repairing a leak.

[atv087]

ok how would i jump the low pressure switch. If that does not work that means my compressor or the clutch or the climate control in my car is broken

[kmohr3]

No! If jumping the low-pressure switch turns on the compressor it means your system is low on freon. Re-read my last post!

[atv087]

i said how do i jump the low pressure switch because if that did not work that ment that my compressor or the switch in the dash the climate control died. Is it possible that when the radio was put in they shorted out the climate control?

[atv087]

OK AC WORKS FINALLY!! i replaced the relay under the hood and it worked the clutch kicked on and it blew ice cold once again