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2005 AC Pressure question

goochman

New member
Last summer I had a problem where my AC wouldnt blow cold when starting to car after sitting for awhile. There was no rhyme or reason but after a certain point of time (anywhere from 1 min to 30 mins) cold air would come out. I started to suspect that if I did some full throttle acceleration that would help kick the cold air in (I am doing mostly highway driving).


While getting a few things taken care of by my mechanic I asked him to check if I needed to charge the AC system. He told me that the system appeared to be overcharged and that possibly could explain why it wouldnt come on right away as maybe the pressure kept the compressor from coming on. He reduced the pressure and asked I keep an eye on it.


Now that the weather is a bit warmer I tried the AC and it appeared the AC wasnt cold at all. I got the feeling that in reducing the pressure that maybe he went a bit too low and bought one of the 'AC Charge in a Can' solutions.


Here is my question -
The AC Charge has a gauge to show the current pressure. I started my car, turned the AC on full blast and connected the gauge. The air was not coming out cold and the pressure gauge showed it running pretty high. At this point I figure I was SOL.....


Today on my way home the AC kicked in and cold air started coming out. When I got home I did not turn the car off and did the pressure test again. This time the gauge read in the middle of the 'green zone'.




After that long winded explanation my question is what could be running the AC pressure so high and then go away and allow the compressor to come on? Seems that is my problem.
 


After poking around a bit I guess the pressure situation is normal when the compressor is not running - so the compressor or something else preventing the compressor from kicking in would be the issue.
 
Faulty pressure switch or clutch on compressor needs adjustment. Remember if the car doesn't see proper pressures from the switch it will not engage the compressor. Or the switch is fine but when the clutch magnet energizes the gap is too large for it to engage.
 
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