AC problem please help!!!

Ok so before I bought the jeep, the po said he just had the ac serviced professionally and had the receipts to prove so. It looks like they redid the lines, schrader valves and a pressure test as well as a refill with new refrigerant.

Here's my issue.... The low pressure line gets cold and I know it's not leaking and creating cold air without issue, but the canister lines are both just warm and I get no cold air out of the vents at all. The clutch engages about every 10 secs at idle then runs for about 5 secs. I'm guessing this is normal.

Any idea as to why my canister isn't getting cold and I have no cold air?

Fixed it... was just a little low on freon enough to not blow cold... I hope its not a leak.... if it is where should i start looking?

It's common for the Schrader valves to leak just slightly, especially if they're on the older side and it was just serviced. When I recharged my 98 XJ myself I had to replace the valve after servicing as it was leaking. Sometimes the valve just doesn't seat correctly and you can put a screwdriver in there and give it a little tap to reseat the Schrader. I think mine was like $.20 to replace.

If you want to get fancy, Harbor Freight sells an audible Freon detector for like $170 that sniffs and beeps for leaks. I'm assuming we're talking about R134a here.....

EDIT: Here's the Harbor Freight option.....much cheaper than I thought:

http://www.harborfreight.com/electronic-freon-and-halogen-leak-detector-92514.html


You can also purchase a dye kit to look for leaks for a less expensive option.

Schrader Valves are new... I kept the gauge on the fitting to try and see if there is in fact a slow leak... the temperature dropped about 15 degrees since i last checked it and when i just looked at it the needle has decreased but I'm wondering if thats just because of the temperature as I've heard AC system gauges are sensitive to temperature.

Are those freon sniffers sensitive? Like would it detect a leak under the dash without having to rip the dash apart or shove the tip right into a pool of 134a to go off?

Ill check the gauge reading tomorrow and if it has indeed dropped, i may try a can of the sealer/ stop leak... If i have to charge it once every spring or something id rather do that than rip the dash apart or pay someone to do it if it was the evaporator/ heater core. I don't have the time, but AC in the Florida summer is a necessity.

All the freon sniffers I've used seem to be like Geiger counters... they're always kinda beeping but really seem to go off if there's a major leak. (Like your AC instructor opening a freon tank right next to one lol.) Personally, whenever I service an AC system, I recover and put the system under a vacuum (granted, I have access to this equipment through school.) Let it hold a steady vacuum for 20 or 30 minutes and see if the vacuum decreases. Cheap, easy leak test. Vacuuming down the system also has the added benefit of removing moisture from the system. I also like to add a bit of UV dye to the system in case problems should arise in the future.

Unfortunately I don't have access to all that unless I buy the DIY leak kit or hàve a shop do it... I'm about to see if it held the freon over night.

It may be that the vehicle was sold because the evaporator is leaking and the dash has to come out to fix it. Just a thought. Hopefully this will be an easy fix.

As far as the recovery and vacuuming of the system goes, I know I'm fortunate to have basically free access to the equipment, but a shop might not charge as much as you'd think to do it. The machines are usually damn-well near automatic, just hook up the hoses, press a couple buttons, and it beeps at you whenever it's done doing what you told it to. Generally speaking, you can go back to whatever you were doing before while the machine does its thing. Yeah, you might get charged a bit on charging costs (the machine only recovered 30 oz of freon, but the system calls for 32, so you get charged for 2 oz) but like I said, the service tech usually isn't working on it for an hour straight, he's doing other stuff while the machine's doing it's thing. Try calling around to some of your local, reputable service shops for quotes on a recover, vacuum, and recharge... Like I said, it might be less expensive than you think.

md21722 said:

It may be that the vehicle was sold because the evaporator is leaking and the dash has to come out to fix it. Just a thought. Hopefully this will be an easy fix.

Click to expand...

Although that would make sense, I doubt that's the issue as the jeep is extremely modified and has a freshly rebuilt motor with a cam in it, axle swaps front and rear, 8" long arm lift with competition shocks, brand new 35s, lots of body armor and many many many more mods. I feel he wouldn't have done all those modifications but would of been to afraid to tackle or pay to have the ac and dash stripped. He needed the $8k for college bills.

So I tried some r134a with stop leak ($6 at biglots) and the system blows ice cubes now... I'm gunna keep my eye on the guage and see if it has a leak