air conditioner not workin

[rich4nowk]

just bought a 96 gmc the ac didnt work so i thought id just buy the ac kit with the gadge and fill it my self ...wrong....i hooked up the gadge it said 40 psi the paper said not to fill if its that psi ,,,,and the ac clutch kicked in a sec and kicked right back out when i turned it on withthe engine runnin any ideas it blows only hot air

[Rbraczyk]

Your gonna have to put refridgerant in untill the clutch kicks in and stays on. If you hit 45 which is the Max, and it still doesn't work, take it to a shop and have them do a system check.

[Thunderbolt]

Without knowledge of the A/C system and a set of high and low pressure gauges it is best not to mess with it yourself. It does sound as though it is low on refridgerant, But you can't tell by just checking the low side with a pressure gauge it is not that easy.You can potentially do more harm than good by adding to much R134a and if it is low it means there is a leak. I would take it in and have it evacuated and put on a deep vaccum to check for leaks and to boil any moisture out of the system and then recharged with the proper amount of refridgerant. You can buy gauges, But if you don'thave some A/C knowledge it can be a pain. Post your question on aircondition.com, They are very helpful.

[Rbraczyk]

Dear god its not that complex. Get a pressure guage and trigger system and check the line thats closest to the firewall. The guage i have is from EZ CHILL, and you have to be retarted and have a hammer to get it on the high side. Check it out after running your system on full blast for 3 minutes. If you have jack shit, then you get 3 cans of plain refridgerant and slowly empty them into it. One the clutch spins without stopping, then starting again, fill it to 45 psi. Very very easy.

[rich4nowk]

ok gonna try puttin some more into the system it says 39 psi hopefully the compressor will kick on because it just kicks out soon as i turn it on .........not a problem hookin up the can or gadge from ez chill just didnt want to do something wrong when it said 40 is full on the gadge and 40 and above is like warning area

[rich4nowk]

ok just tryed it i was wrong about the reading it was like 42 psi and it goes to warning at 45 now its 45 psi and its still not working.....darn,

[Rbraczyk]

Then you have a problem thats not refridgerant related. It may be a bad clutch.

[rich4nowk]

well the clutch worked once i know before then kicked out like a second later i saw that while i was tryin to charge it it didnt come on no matter what i did .......thinkin theres a sensor some where or somethin guess i need to take this in if im gonna get this one workin im no air conditioner man

[Thunderbolt]

Rbraczyk, Unfortunately to do it right it is that complex. You may get some to work by just adding it, But by using those cheap little gauges(Where everyone on the shelf reads different just sitting there) you cannot do it properly. You cannot know how much refrigerant is in the system by only checking low side pressure and checking low side pressure at 85 degrees with 70 % humidity is going to show a different pressure than at 80 degrees and no humidity. The only true way to know how much is in the system is to evacuate and charge by weight. To much refridgerant can have detrimental effects on the system and it can also cause poor cooling. To even do a decent backyard charge you still have to have a high side gauge and in order to get refridgerant in (if it needs more!!) is for the compressor to be running because if there is some refrigerant in the system the system and the can will have equal pressure. If indeed you want to try to add more you can put the can of refrigerant in warm water to raise the pressure in the can higher than the system.It may not even need refridgerant in the first place so by adding more you may be creating another problem. If it is low on refridgerant it had to leak somewhere and if it is low super low and you only add refridgerant it will shorten or end the life of the compressor because when you loose refridgerant you also loose oil. It may not be rocket science, But it is foolish to just start adding refridgerant everytime the A/C don't work. It is things like that that cost more in the long run. I am not saying that it doesn't just need some refrdgerant, But those little reharge kits you by at auto zone are toys at best. I still say he should go to aircondition.com if you want good help and it is free.You might even learn something there. I don't mean that to be sarcastic I just think it is a good place to learn more about A/C.