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Intermittent A/C

J

JoeBabs

NAXJA Forum User
Location
Virginia Beach
So I found a gem on eBay. ‘99, 2 door, 4X4, manual with 135K miles. No rust what so ever. Went out of state to pick it up and it drives like a dream. Has a 4.5 inch Zone lift, sitting on 32’s. But other than that it’s stock.

The issue is with the A/C… one minute it works and blows cold as ice then, out of no where the A/C stops blowing cold and I can smell it’s no longer A/C just the regular blower. After awhile it will turn back on and work fine. I don’t think it is in conjunction with bumps but I honestly can’t officially rule that out.

I’m just looking for some troubleshooting help. Is the A/C system grounded separately? Could it be a bad ground? Is the compressor just on its way out?

Thank you.
 
l just charged mine with Arctic Freeze® Ultra Synthetic Refrigerant 134a+ from Advance Auto Parts. Includes dye and built in gauge. Compressor will run intermittently w/o a full charge. Worth a try @ $50 instead of professional help. Slow leak will show up eventually with the dye included in the can.

https://naxja.org/forum/showthread.php?t=1162584
 
I was actually reading that thread (and your post specifically) yesterday and somehow never put 2 and 2 together. The guy I bought it from said he had just filled the system and I actually have a can in the garage (without dye). I’ll hook it up and see if it’s low. If it is then I know I’ll need to pick up a can with the dye and find the leak.
 
JoeBabs said:
Well I hooked up an A/C recharge bottle and it has good pressure. Should I invest in the gauges and vacuum pump to properly service it?
Click to expand...

Did it stay in the green throughout the compressor cycling? You did have the engine running and AC on when checking with the bottle gauge, right?
Gauges might be a good investment. I just found out my son-in-law has the full set of AC tools from his former service truck.
 
With engine running and the A/C compressor on the bottle was in the green.

So a little further troubleshooting and I suspect it’s the clutch. When the engine is cold or has time to off the clutch engages no problem. When the engine gets too hot, it stops engaging. I turn the A/C on and clutch doesn’t engage.

Maybe I’m missing something but, if I turn the A/C on in the cabin it sends 12V to the coil and energizes it thus engaging the clutch. If the clutch does not engage when the A/C is on, it has to be a bad clutch or wiring. The level of refrigerant wouldn’t have anything to do with the clutch not engaging, correct?
 
The ac system has a high and low pressure switch in the circuit also.
 
So either the clutch is bad, or the air gap is too big. When cold, there's less resistance in the coil so you get a stronger pull. Once it heats up the resistance rises resulting in less pull. So perhaps not enough to engage the clutch.

Search the forum or the web for AC Compressor Air Gap.
 
Sorry for the all the typos in my last post. I was trying to finish before a meeting and didn’t proof read.

So, I jumped compressor straight off the battery and found that it pulls the clutch in slowly. It’s not snappy by any means. I also checked the air gap and it’s waaaay outside spec. Please correct me if I’m wrong but max air gap should be .024 or .65mm. I can wiggle that shim all around in there.

I’m going to pull the clutch all the way apart and clean it up. I assume a combination of gunk and the air gap is the reason it’s not pulled in snappy. Thanks for the help.
 
MY FSM say .016-.031" for the air gap.
 
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