tuffluck

iTrader: (4)

last time i used it was in like october, but with the stupid texas weather it was in the 80s on saturday (although it's now in the 20s) and i turned the AC on for the first time and it was just warm air coming out. the belt is still on the compressor and it's spinning but that is about as far as i went with diagnosis as i don't know how to check for faulty AC parts. i figure it can be either the car is out of freon or the compressor is out. how do i know which one? if it is the compressor, how much of a pain is it to fix?

Blown383LS1

iTrader: (23)

Check the compresser switch on the dryer. That is the part that is the cheapest and is the easiest to check. If it is bad the clutch will not engage and the compressor will not work. They go out quite often. If that switch is good and the clutch is not kicking in on the compressor I would say it is low on freon.

2001NBMZ28

If you have access to a gauge see what the static pressure is. If it gets too low the pressure switch will keep the compressor from engaging.

tuffluck

iTrader: (4)

compressor switch on the dryer? can you elaborate as to where exactly that is?

LS6427

iTrader: (2)

You can check the pressure easily with your car key, just push the pin on the filler port and if it blasts out, the pressure is fine. They did this at the dealership to mine a couple months ago when my A/C wouldn't turn on.

It turned out to be a frayed wire that leads to the compressor. Don't know what the wire was called though. It was about 1 foot long. He spliced it in and pluged it back into the compressor and that was it. It cost like $50.00 at the dealership and took about 30 minutes.

tuffluck

iTrader: (4)

i checked the freon and there was no pressure or anything that came out when i pressed the little button on the canister. so does that mean it for sure is that i have no freon, or could there be a leak somewhere? how would i go about searching for the leak?

Mike in LA

I had a similar problem, the A/C line running from the firewall to the front ran close to the headers and when the engine would torque over the header would rub against the line till it finally put a hole in it. Something to check just from my experience. I just replaced the line and bent it so it wasn't in the way anymore.

tuffluck

iTrader: (4)

i guess i will just fill it with freon and then drive it for a couple of days and see if the freon leaked or not. how much freon does our car take? mine is completely empty.

weird though it worked fine last time i used it, so unless i am using it i wouldn't think it would leak through any pipes since it wouldn't flow through them either. maybe the canister itself has a leak, or maybe i don't understand how the system works.

2001NBMZ28

Factory fill is 1.5 lbs - if it's completely empty before filling you should pull a vacuum before recharging. If you just want to add some and look for leaks you can buy refrigerant with dye in it. You can also look around for oil residue around the AC connections, another common spot for leaks is where the pipe connects to the condenser.

9000th01ss

iTrader: (10)

This is where my car leaked at 30,xxx miles, the liquid line, the AIR tube was rubbing on it.
Look to the left of the hole you'll see a fitting, this is where the pressure switch goes.
LS1 f-bodies don't have low pressure cut outs, this ran until the pressure was zero psi or close to it.

I wouldn't run it low or leave it open with a leak for too long, the oil in the system actally absorbs moisture, this moisture can react with the oil and form a barrier that blocks heat transfer.
If this happens the whole system needs to be flushed, etc.

I bought the tube from the local gm dealer, installed it, ran a vacuum on it and weighed in the refrigerant.

bboyferal

iTrader: (9)

Strange, I haven't had my AIR tube for some time now... Are they really that close to each other stock to rub like that?

9000th01ss

iTrader: (10)

I don't know I haven't had mine in at least two years. It was the check valve on the metal pipe that comes off the manifold. It got bent over when doing the spark plug change I'm guessing.

tuffluck

iTrader: (4)

thanks. i read your post over here too:

https://ls1tech.com/forums/general-m...-cold-air.html

problem is i don't understand what all those parts are, so it's a little difficult for me to follow exactly what needs to be done. all i ever knew existed was the compressor and then the shiny silver canister on the right side of the engine bay near the battery. help me through my ignorance if you can, and help me understand what parts i can buy that will fix the AC. thank you.

9000th01ss

iTrader: (10)

There are a lot of posts that I'm in where people try to fix their a/c.
That one might have to most info.
I gave up with a/c problems on here.

In your case you have no refrigerant in the system. You have a leak.
1st step is to find the leak.

To find a leak I use nitrogen (gas) or work supplied R22
And an electronic leak detector to trace it down, bubble soap to pin point it.


I wouldn't buy an electronic leak detector for a one time repair. Then once you find the leak, you can fix it but you need to run a vacuum pump on it, thats another tool you don't buy for this, I wouldn't.

But I have these tools and use them several times a day.

Last option is this, put a can of 134a in it and see if you can find the leak.
If you can, replace the part.
Then find a shop to evacuate it and weigh in the refrigerant charge.

If you can't find the leak, you may either have to buy some tools or take it to a shop and let them do the complete job.

tuffluck

iTrader: (4)

cool. now how much would it cost to have them do everything, and what if i found the leak first, how much would it cost for them to just evacuate and fill it?

the last question may be repetitive but what happens if you don't evacuate it? i ask only because they sell those AC kits in autozone and people buy them all the time and i'm sure they use them without vacuuming their system out, so i kind of wonder the necessity of it even though i understand the principle of cleaning contaminants out.

thanks a lot for your help!

9000th01ss

iTrader: (10)

Autozone sells the 134a kits...have you ever heard someone say 134a doesn't cool as well as the old R12?
This is what people don't understand.
R12 used mineral based oil that didn't absorb moisture. 134a uses a synthetic oil that not only absorbs moisture, but it will draw it in.

I've I could guess whats happening to the kits being sold at autozone I'd say 80% are people just putting it in and letting it leak back out.
I've even been in the store at least one time and heard a customer say that a $25 can per year was better than paying the price to get the leak fixed.

If you don't evacuate it, it will probably work but not as well, you might not even notice a difference.
On the other hand it might not work, and you end up taking it to a shop, they find the pressures out of whack, that tells them either the comp is taking a crap or someones been into the system and recharged it wrong.

To fix that they automatically recover the refrigerant, drain the compressor (or replace it), remove the orifice tube, flush all the lines, evap, and cond, replace all the seals, orifice tube, accumulator, oil, evacuate it, recharge it.

This is very hard to predict.
I have no idea on prices either.