A/C problems - Toyota Nation Forum : Toyota Car and Truck Forums

Babeo74 · 07-10-2011, 07:42 PM

Hoping someone could point me in the right direction here. I have 96 Camry, 2.2L. The AC has been acting strange lately. So I decided to pull out my chages and here is what I've found.
With the car off low side was in the retard area between 120-350 psi and the high side was at 125psi. Once I started the car and turned the AC on the low side dropped to between 35-45 psi and the high side rose to 350psi and the ac was blowing cold. Then after about 2-3 minutes the low side dropped to below 0psi and was reading a vacuum of between 25-30 and the high side dropped to 150psi and the ac quit blowing cold. Keep in mind that the compressor was engaged the whole time once the car was started. Any thoughts or ideas would be greatly appreciated. Thank you, James.

hill8570 · 07-10-2011, 08:07 PM

I'd say your expansion valve is freezing up. Have you had to top the system off without pulling a vacuum, or some other situation where the system leaked without a vacuum being pulled before refilling?

Babeo74 · 07-10-2011, 08:17 PM

I've only had the car for about six months and for the first 4 the ac worked great. Then lately the ac would work off and on. Some days it would work all day then others nothing.

hill8570 · 07-11-2011, 12:14 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Babeo74

I've only had the car for about six months and for the first 4 the ac worked great. Then lately the ac would work off and on. Some days it would work all day then others nothing.

OK, I know that that temps in Hawaii don't vary nearly as much as they do up here in the great white north, but weren't temps six months ago maybe 10 degrees cooler than now? The harder the A/C has to work, the greater the likelihood that moisture in the system is going to freeze up in the expansion valve.

Were it my rig, I'd evac the system, monitor for leaks while evac'd (fix if need be), change out the receiver/dryer, then recharge.