Air Conditioning Not Working..

I rarely drive the XJ in summer, but wanted to use it this weekend for a wheeling trip. The AC worked great early this summer (April/May). I went ahead and hopped in the Jeep yesterday afternoon to take it to work. Nothing but hot air. AC clutch was not engaging. Great.

After work, I took the XJ to my buddies house. He has an AC recharge kit, gauge, etc., and has done this MANY times before. So we engage the clutch using a wire as a jumper on the electrical switch. It engages fine. We then hook the gauge up to it. Nothing. We then try to pump R134a into the system with the clutch engaged, AC on full. Pressure builds in the line that's being used to pump the R134a, but the compressor is not taking anything.

We tried, tried some more, tried a few different things... all with the same end result of no air conditioning. I spoke with a friend of mine who's a tech at a Jeep dealership. He said it could be a leak in the system that's not allowing a vacuum to suck the R134a into the system. But it seems like the valve is stuck shut, versus a possible leak in the system.

Any idea's?

A photo for the hell of it from my cell phone (Note where the wrench is... what is that valve used for?):

What year Jeep?

Those are valve that allow you to isolate the compressor. With the gauge set or charge can on, turn the valve clockwise (as if tightening) it to open the valve. Do not turn it all the way or it sill seat on the other side.

You should then be able to see pressure readings and charge the system. Make sure you close the valve (back seated until it stops) before you disconnect the hoses. There are no schraeders in the valves. If your adapters don't have them, opening the valve with nothing on it will vent your refrigerant.

cmsurfer said:

What year Jeep?

Click to expand...

In my sig. '93 4.0L.

Saudade said:

Those are valve that allow you to isolate the compressor. With the gauge set or charge can on, turn the valve clockwise (as if tightening) it to open the valve. Do not turn it all the way or it sill seat on the other side.

You should then be able to see pressure readings and charge the system. Make sure you close the valve (back seated until it stops) before you disconnect the hoses. There are no schraeders in the valves. If your adapters don't have them, opening the valve with nothing on it will vent your refrigerant.

Click to expand...

Thanks so much. We'll try that out.