Air Conditioner (AC) Troubleshooting Guide? 2001

[sroberts]

Hi All,

The AC in my 2001 went from working like a champ to blowing only ambient temp air in about 6 hours of driving. I have an auto climate control and I hear the compressor click on and off when I adjust the temperature but there is no change in temp. I checked the belt on the compressor and AC fuse, no issues. Can anyone point me to a troubleshooting guide or a DIY?

Thanks, South Carolina is pretty much uninhabitable in July without AC!

Steve

[brickbox]

Just a thought. You could get one of the quick fill R134 cans from the auto parts store and refill the system. The gauge will also tell you how low on refrigerant you are.

Typically, low refrigerant would result in the compressor cycling on and off. Have you checked the AC plumbing for oily residue?

[AlabamaDan]

I have a 98 with AC problems as well... signing on for the education. I've bought some gauges at HF, cans of r134. I'm going to rent/borrow a pump from Autozone and try and recharge this weekend... Seems like thats the first thing to do I understand.

[sroberts]

Finally got to dealing with this - appears to be the AC compressor clutch, $150 or so aftermarket. I borrowed AC gauges from O'Reilly and found when the compressor clicks on, the clutch makes some noise but no pressure changes are shown on the gauges and the compressor appears to remain un-engaged. So I'm ordering a clutch.

[Buzzman]

My AC started to get luke warm the past two summers, so I bought a can of refrigerant last week.
Topped up the AC, and it blows super cool again.
One can was $30 CND.

[AlabamaDan]

Following.

[sroberts]

Replacing the AC clutch has turned out to be quite a challenge. My goal was to do this without removing the compressor. Removing a charged c

A total of 3 snap rings need to be removed to get the clutch off. I found removing the first 2 to be a challenge without access to the front of the compressor clutch, so I removed the radiator for better access. The outer snap ring was fused to its bearing, probably from the clutch not being perfectly balanced. I had to remove it in pieces, which took a couple of hours. The inner snap ring is in deep and is also a challenge but I eventually got it off.

Next to remove the compressor pulley I had to use a gear puller, and it was a struggle as the pulley seemed to be fused to the bearing. After getting it about half way out I started hearing a slight hiss, which I am pretty sure was the compressor decompressing. My guess is that the shaft seal was weak and gave it up. So I stuck a fan in the garage to blow any refrigerant into the environment to do its damage.

New plan is to return the clutch and buy an aftermarket compressor. I'll have to research what it takes to charge a new compressor, I've read conflicting info on it.

I'm also replacing the radiator as it looks pretty rough after 200k+ miles.

Steve