Our '97 Prizm with the 1.6 takes forever to cool the inside down when its been sitting in bright sunlight. I'm thinking this is normal since it's a small car?
Vents feel like they are pushing out pretty cool air. I decided to check it today anyway.
The big pipe by the firewall is cold, however, the small one feels warm/hot. I hooked up a gauge to the low side and it read 23psi. I filled it up to 30psi and the air from the vents got a little cooler.
The sight window in the front shows refrigerant that is foaming when the compressor is running. Shutting the a/c off will stop it from foaming and it clears up. According to the manual this all checks out except for the warm high side pipe.
The air in the vents feels decently cool, however, I don't really have a car to compare it to. On hot days it still feels a little inadequate.
What's your pressure reading and high pressure pipe feel like?
Doesn't appear to leak, I'm pretty sure this system has never been recharged before. Anything else to check?
possibly just needs recharging. if ther are no leaks inside the cabin or outside then thats all it needs, try recharging or regasing it and work it for a couple days to see what happens
Thanks for the reply, I charged up to 30psi. Unfortunately I don't have a manifold gauge set so I have not idea what the high side is reading.
I'm going to check what the vents are blowing later today, is there a table that lists what the vents should be at compared to ambient outside temps somewhere? My Hayne's manual is very generic.
I have the same problem, on hot days the a/c doesn't feel like its doing a good job, but the air is still pretty cold. In about 20 minutes of driving the car will become cool. That seems a bit too long for me.
Its a small system, it will take time to cool down the car especially on a hot sunny day. The low side pipe should be cold to the touch and the high side pipe should be hot to the touch. The actual pressure readings vill vary based on lots of different factors. The only real accurate way to know how much is in the system is to suck all the freon out.
Can anyone tell me where the low pressure port on a '96 is located?
I found a port with H on it, I'm guessing it's the high pressure port. I traced it back to the firewall but didn't find another connection. Like a lot of other posters, my AC works when it's just warm, but when it gets really hot and humid it takes awhile to cool down. Also, the view port is very white, it definitely needs a recharge. - Thanks
I have the same problem, on hot days the a/c doesn't feel like its doing a good job, but the air is still pretty cold. In about 20 minutes of driving the car will become cool. That seems a bit too long for me.
Yeah mine blows coolest air when the vehicle is in motion. I presume this is due to air moving over the condenser.
Yeah good point Shawn, I was thinking the same thing but I still suspect something.
Are all the a/c evac pumps electric? Wondering if I can rent one somewhere. I heard that the condensers can get clogged sometimes.
From what I have read, if you see bubble foaming in the sight glass, it is a sign of low refrigerant. If you don't see anything, it is empty. If it is full, the liquid is clear so it appears you don't see anything but if you look carefully, you can see a stream of fluid moving.
The correct Low port pressure is 20psi. Don't overcharge, more is not better.
The amount of refrigerant is written on the sticker under the hood, if your system was partly full, you should not need more than one small can of refrigerant
The AC system on the 7th gen Corolla is not very powerful to start with, that is probably why you feel the AC is not adequate on hot days. That is the thing I noticed right away with this car when I first bought it new years ago
You can buy an inexpensive meat thermometer and stick that in the vent and measure the temp. My AC blows air about 40F if the fan speed set to maximum and on the re-circulation mode
From what I have read, if you see bubble foaming in the sight glass, it is a sign of low refrigerant. If you don't see anything, it is empty. If it is full, the liquid is clear so it appears you don't see anything but if you look carefully, you can see a stream of fluid moving.
The correct Low port pressure is 20psi. Don't overcharge, more is not better.
The amount of refrigerant is written on the sticker under the hood, if your system was partly full, you should not need more than one small can of refrigerant
The AC system on the 7th gen Corolla is not very powerful to start with, that is probably why you feel the AC is not adequate on hot days. That is the thing I noticed right away with this car when I first bought it new years ago
You can buy an inexpensive meat thermometer and stick that in the vent and measure the temp. My AC blows air about 40F if the fan speed set to maximum and on the re-circulation mode
hungt 1999 is right i recent changed my evaporator core, filter, and seals and on a hot day it still take a lil 10 mins before it starts to feel like inside a fridge so that being said it isnt that powerfull to have the cabin cold within 3 to 5 mins.
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