A/c ??

[joeyd50]

My wifes 2002 3.7 Liberty A/C works fine except for 2 times when it just stop blowing cold air, a little time later it's back to cold air. I'm driving a 1997 Dodge 1500 360 motor and the same thing happened to me, any idea what's up?
Thanks
Joe

[SleepyHead98]

If you really want to know, buy some pressure gauges. I broke down and bought an ac manifold gauge from Advance Auto for 98 out the door. You can try harbor freight if you want they run bout 45ish. Figure out your pressures. Its not a guestamation, so dont just throw freon in there without knowing the pressure or you and your ac system will become very familiar very soon.

[brcidd]

Probably a wide (worn) air gap on compressor-- once warmed up, the coil can't pull in the clutch driver across an air gap of .040+ this means compressor is not running- that's why you are hot--let engine cool- compressor comes back on-- next time your hot, stop, open hood- check that compressor is not turning- then give the front of it a love tap with a hammer handle-- if it kicks on, there-in is your problem-- you can remove a shim under clutch to fix the problem.

[joeyd50]

Thanks guys, both great answers.
Thanks Again
Joe

[joeyd50]

Originally Posted by brcidd

Probably a wide (worn) air gap on compressor-- once warmed up, the coil can't pull in the clutch driver across an air gap of .040+ this means compressor is not running- that's why you are hot--let engine cool- compressor comes back on-- next time your hot, stop, open hood- check that compressor is not turning- then give the front of it a love tap with a hammer handle-- if it kicks on, there-in is your problem-- you can remove a shim under clutch to fix the problem.

I don't have gauges except for the one that came with the A/C Pro recharge kit I got last year. It took a little freon, stop again, I can't tap the clutch without hitting the fan, can I turn the truck off, tap the clutch and try it that way?
Thanks
Joe
Is the clutch a big deal to remove?

[SleepyHead98]

Well man, I really dont know how to tell you this, but If you want to KNOW what is going on with your AC you need to break down and buy a set of gauges. Manifold gauges. It will tell you everything you need to know. If you got good pressure, and pump is not kicking in, could be the high or low pressure sensors not working. You can test those, but you need to look up the wiring diagram and see if the switch is supposed to ground or go hot with the right pressure. If the pressure sensors are good, it might be some other switch, *((dunno help me out ac guys)). If there are no other sensors, could be clutch or pump. I dont know your specific style of pump, but I would gather that changing the clutch is a no brainer. But buying a clutch it would be half as much as buying a brand new pump. Hmm. I would go pump. Thats just me.