2001 trans am a/c issues
06-05-2012, 11:29 PM
#1
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2001 trans am a/c issues Hey guys im kinda new here but i have a 2001 trans am thay has a two way switch for the fans. Up is high and down is low of course and it doesnt throw a ses light or anything this way but i dont believe it is a actual aftermarket wiring system..more like whoever owned it before me wired it up. It works fine but ehat i dont get it my a/c is charged, clutch moves freely and when first turn it on you can hear it click but wont blow cold air or drag motor down like compressor is engaged. Could this be related to my fan switch set up? Im going to look at wiring more closely tomorrow.
Thanks guys!
Thanks guys!
06-06-2012, 01:28 AM
#2
I'm curious why someone would add a manual switch. Unless it was a bandaid fix for something. The PCM controls the fans by controlling 3 relays. For low speed they are run in series. This way each fan uses 6 volts, for high speed they are run in parallel and each get 12 volts. It would be really hard to figure out what's up with the fans without being there to look at it.
I'm confused by what you're saying the compressor its doing. With the ac on the clutch engages and spins? you should have enough of a charge to get at least a little cold unless there is no refrigerant and either the low pressure switch is bad or has been bypassed which who knows what's been done if the fan wiring has been messed with.
Did you say the ac is charged? How do you know for sure? If you do have a full charge and both the compressor and fans are spinning I can think of three possibilities off the top of my head.
Make sure the fans are blowing air in the right direction. I've seen people wire them backwards and the condenser won't cool enough. Check to see if the condenser is full of dirty or fins are bent blocking air flow.
And third your mode door could be in the wrong position. It is vacuum operated so check for vacuum leaks on the line that runs into the firewall
I'm confused by what you're saying the compressor its doing. With the ac on the clutch engages and spins? you should have enough of a charge to get at least a little cold unless there is no refrigerant and either the low pressure switch is bad or has been bypassed which who knows what's been done if the fan wiring has been messed with.
Did you say the ac is charged? How do you know for sure? If you do have a full charge and both the compressor and fans are spinning I can think of three possibilities off the top of my head.
Make sure the fans are blowing air in the right direction. I've seen people wire them backwards and the condenser won't cool enough. Check to see if the condenser is full of dirty or fins are bent blocking air flow.
And third your mode door could be in the wrong position. It is vacuum operated so check for vacuum leaks on the line that runs into the firewall
06-06-2012, 10:34 AM
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Mainly i checked with a Walmart gauge and if turn car on and have somebody turn the **** in the car to a/c you can hear a click from i believe the conpressor clutch and then gauge will read but slowly drop back down to 0. Then wont do anything. I pressed on the bleed valve and it hissed so im pretty sure its got refrigerant in it but im kinda clueless with a/c stuff. As far as the fan switch im not sure. And i meant by clutch spining is when car is off i can spin the clutch on the compressor so it doesnt seam to be stuck. Thanks for the fast reply tho! I am going to look over how they wired the fan switch alil later.
Thanks!
Thanks!
06-06-2012, 09:45 PM
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Mainly i checked with a Walmart gauge and if turn car on and have somebody turn the **** in the car to a/c you can hear a click from i believe the conpressor clutch and then gauge will read but slowly drop back down to 0. Then wont do anything. I pressed on the bleed valve and it hissed so im pretty sure its got refrigerant in it but im kinda clueless with a/c stuff. As far as the fan switch im not sure. And i meant by clutch spining is when car is off i can spin the clutch on the compressor so it doesnt seam to be stuck. Thanks for the fast reply tho! I am going to look over how they wired the fan switch alil later.
Thanks!
Thanks!
06-07-2012, 01:00 PM
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Okay cool thanks for replying! I will look into it alittle closer today as well as which way the fans are spinning. I tried looking at the wiring for fans but it was routed very neatly so lose the wires pretty easily just glancing over it. I will have to actually get down and track them.
06-07-2012, 01:29 PM
#6
your manual radiator fan switch is not affecting your AC operation. It is coincidental.
SLP, the aftermarket company who turned the Camaro into a Camaro SS and the Firebird into the Firehawk or WS6, sold a manual fan switch for like $70 with factory connectors that plugged right in. That is probably what you have. There were other versions of it by other vendors too, or you could make your own it was very simple. The reason for it was being able to control the fans instead of waiting for the engine computer to see coolant temp hit 226F to turn fans on low and 234F for high speed, generally when at the track. the alternative was modifying the temp setting in the engine computer.
for your ac, you need to put a set of gauges and check high and low side pressures. without you knowing AC a variety of things can be happening since it's over 10 years old. the gauge that comes on the can from walmart does not count as "a gauge"
cheapest set of pressure gauges (high and low) i know of are $50 from harborfreight.
http://www.harborfreight.com/a-c-man...set-92649.html
you cannot just press the schraeder valve, see refrigerant come out, and conclude the system has the correct amount of refrigerant. It can be severely low and will still do that, and potentially hurt you spraying liquid refrigerant and oil. So don't do that, it is basically pointless and wasting refrigerant, and don't get the oil on your paint. My best guess, and it's a guess at this point based on the odds, is you're low on refrigerant and when the compressor turns on the low side goes below 20 psi tripping the low pressure switch shutting off the compressor.
SLP, the aftermarket company who turned the Camaro into a Camaro SS and the Firebird into the Firehawk or WS6, sold a manual fan switch for like $70 with factory connectors that plugged right in. That is probably what you have. There were other versions of it by other vendors too, or you could make your own it was very simple. The reason for it was being able to control the fans instead of waiting for the engine computer to see coolant temp hit 226F to turn fans on low and 234F for high speed, generally when at the track. the alternative was modifying the temp setting in the engine computer.
for your ac, you need to put a set of gauges and check high and low side pressures. without you knowing AC a variety of things can be happening since it's over 10 years old. the gauge that comes on the can from walmart does not count as "a gauge"
cheapest set of pressure gauges (high and low) i know of are $50 from harborfreight.
http://www.harborfreight.com/a-c-man...set-92649.html
you cannot just press the schraeder valve, see refrigerant come out, and conclude the system has the correct amount of refrigerant. It can be severely low and will still do that, and potentially hurt you spraying liquid refrigerant and oil. So don't do that, it is basically pointless and wasting refrigerant, and don't get the oil on your paint. My best guess, and it's a guess at this point based on the odds, is you're low on refrigerant and when the compressor turns on the low side goes below 20 psi tripping the low pressure switch shutting off the compressor.
06-07-2012, 03:18 PM
#7
The only problem I have with hooking up a gauge set and not having a way to evac and recharge the system is that you have no way to put the refrigerant that flows into the hoses back into the system. It is a significant amount especially if you hook them up multiple times with the lines on the gauges empty, even more so the longer the hoses are. I'm all for people doing stuff themselves and the electrical side of ac can be diagnosed by a do it yourselfer but anything involving the refrigerant should really be left to a pro with the right equipment.
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06-09-2012, 08:18 PM
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Hey guys thanks for all the replies and advice. I found the issue tho as one of my lines cracked at the housing and the whole pipe broke off once i put pressure/freon in. Leaked all over the ground under my feet lol. So now the hunt for a new a/c hardline.
06-10-2012, 10:25 AM
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your manual radiator fan switch is not affecting your AC operation. It is coincidental.
SLP, the aftermarket company who turned the Camaro into a Camaro SS and the Firebird into the Firehawk or WS6, sold a manual fan switch for like $70 with factory connectors that plugged right in. That is probably what you have. There were other versions of it by other vendors too, or you could make your own it was very simple. The reason for it was being able to control the fans instead of waiting for the engine computer to see coolant temp hit 226F to turn fans on low and 234F for high speed, generally when at the track. the alternative was modifying the temp setting in the engine computer.
for your ac, you need to put a set of gauges and check high and low side pressures. without you knowing AC a variety of things can be happening since it's over 10 years old. the gauge that comes on the can from walmart does not count as "a gauge"
cheapest set of pressure gauges (high and low) i know of are $50 from harborfreight.
http://www.harborfreight.com/a-c-man...set-92649.html
you cannot just press the schraeder valve, see refrigerant come out, and conclude the system has the correct amount of refrigerant. It can be severely low and will still do that, and potentially hurt you spraying liquid refrigerant and oil. So don't do that, it is basically pointless and wasting refrigerant, and don't get the oil on your paint. My best guess, and it's a guess at this point based on the odds, is you're low on refrigerant and when the compressor turns on the low side goes below 20 psi tripping the low pressure switch shutting off the compressor.
SLP, the aftermarket company who turned the Camaro into a Camaro SS and the Firebird into the Firehawk or WS6, sold a manual fan switch for like $70 with factory connectors that plugged right in. That is probably what you have. There were other versions of it by other vendors too, or you could make your own it was very simple. The reason for it was being able to control the fans instead of waiting for the engine computer to see coolant temp hit 226F to turn fans on low and 234F for high speed, generally when at the track. the alternative was modifying the temp setting in the engine computer.
for your ac, you need to put a set of gauges and check high and low side pressures. without you knowing AC a variety of things can be happening since it's over 10 years old. the gauge that comes on the can from walmart does not count as "a gauge"
cheapest set of pressure gauges (high and low) i know of are $50 from harborfreight.
http://www.harborfreight.com/a-c-man...set-92649.html
you cannot just press the schraeder valve, see refrigerant come out, and conclude the system has the correct amount of refrigerant. It can be severely low and will still do that, and potentially hurt you spraying liquid refrigerant and oil. So don't do that, it is basically pointless and wasting refrigerant, and don't get the oil on your paint. My best guess, and it's a guess at this point based on the odds, is you're low on refrigerant and when the compressor turns on the low side goes below 20 psi tripping the low pressure switch shutting off the compressor.
