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AC Problem

Jay Welch

NAXJA Forum User
Hi Guys,

Can anyone figure this one out?

A friend came by with his 2000 XJ....said the AC was working fine and abruptly stopped working.

I have the refill kit with low pressure gauge so I threw it on to take a look. The pressure was low so I started adding 134A refrigerant and the compressor started cycling...GREAT!

Then it started acting strangely.

When the compressor was disengaged, the pressure went up into the red (60lb I think) then the compressor kicked in and the pressure dropped to the green zero range.

I'm no AC expert by any stretch but I've recharged at least a dozen systems with no problem. Does this make sense to anyone? I would have expected the high pressure while the compressor was engaged and then the high limit switch to disengage the compressor.

Thanks for your feedback,
Jay in MA
 
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Mine does that after I have topped it off a few times, generally from air in the sytem from a leak in the evaporator in the heater box in my case.
DC/Jeeps supplier of evaporators sucks monkey turds as far as their products are concerned and it's a common problem in both the XJ and ZJ's from about 95 on in the ZJ's and 97 on in the XJ's. Hopefully in his case it will be something cheaper, the evap is the most expensive and labor intensive part in the entire jeep next to the heater core...
 
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Your gauge is on the low (suction) side. It's "normal" for the reading to fluctuate with the cycling of the compressor.

That said, you really need the high pressure side gauge as well to get proper servicing results. The 2000 FSM has the following table.

acpressuresmallqw1.jpg


Typically, you set the ac to max with your windows open and all vents on full. This way, the compressor says on.
 
Thanks Guys.

RichP - I'm aware of the evaporator issue on these Jeeps and recent Mopars in general but I'd have thought the evaporator would leak thus creating a low refrigerant condition. At that point the pressure switch would cut out the compressor and as a result have no AC. Do you know how the evaporator would cause the HIGH pressure condition on the low side while the compressor is disengaged and then drop to zero when the compressor is engaged? Very strange.

Jay
 
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