kahaikapu said:
hi ..hate to be the person to bear the bad news to ya..but...its illegal to recharge an a/c sytem other then to repair the system..
Wrong. If it were illegal, as mentioned, it wouldn't be available at stores such as wally world for about $10-12 per can.
To the OP, by looking at your profile it shows you have a 2001. If this is correct, I would first start by pulling the grill off and thoroughly cleaning the condensor (the radiator looking thing directly behind the grill). As mentioned, they do get dirty seeing as they're right behind the grill and catch all the bugs and crap you hit on the road. I did this a couple of years ago and it made a noticeable difference in my a/c's performance.
The next step is to first verify that your compressor is kicking on, and then see how much your compressor is kicking on and off with in a minute's period. I believe the FSM states that anything over 12 cycles in a minute's time is too much, and indicates that the system is low on freon. However, if it's not coming on at all, that indicates that the system is too low to run, and the low pressure cut off switch has kicked in, and prevented the compressor from coming on, to prevent damage to the unit.
One thing to consider is that the evaporators in the 97+ XJ's are pure crap. They all leak. Mine is currently leaking, but it's a very small leak. I can usually get a full summer's use out of one recharge. For now, i'm not too worried about it.
Also, to recharge your system, you're going to need one of the hoses that can be both found in the recharge kits, and sold separately. You can't just plug the can into the port. Also make sure you're recharging on the LOW pressure side of the system, and not the high side. The hoses that you connect to the can, and then connect to the low pressure side port can only fit into the low pressure side. So if you unscrew one cap and it doesn't fit, try the other.
Also one more thing to consider is with our a/c systems, as well as any R134a system, they're real picky about freon levels. Too little freon, and it will not cool. Also, too much freon will yield the same result. My recommendation to you is to pick up a hose at wally world with a guage on it. While they're not the most accurate in the world, they're better than nothing. However, you really should take it to an a/c professional so they can hook up the proper guages to it and monitor both the high and low sides of the system.
Sorry if some of the info comes off as "well....duh" to you, but a/c systems are tricky about re-charging....and its not hard to completely screw up the system.