AC problem

[ventsyv]

The AC is on but it's not blowing cold air. The air that comes out with the AC on is not noticeably colder than with the AC off. I bought one of those AC refill kits - it came with a gauge that showed around 35psi and according to the kit it should've been 45 - 55 psi, so I recharged (it was 134a gas), but no improvement.
Any ideas how to troubleshoot the AC? How can I check if it's even working? Any fuses I should check?
The refill valve is on the top left side of the engine compartment right?

[mikered30]

Check the AC magnetic clutch relay under the hood in the fuse box and swap it with the horn relay. Your system may now be overcharged. Does the AC light come on when you hit the button?

[ventsyv]

The light does come on. It might indeed be overcharged, what's the recommended reading for that?

[mikered30]

25-40 psi on the low side and 200-250 on the high side, depending on the outside temp. Your low side was at the correct pressure to start with. High should be 2.5 times the outside temp. This is with the engine running at 1500 RPM. Did you try swapping the MG CLT (AC)relay with the horn or fog relay? Is the compressor cycling? It is now overcharged.

[ventsyv]

I was able to fix the problem.
I checked all the fuses under the hood - everything was OK. (Which one is the AC and which one is the horn one by the way?) I touched the low end aluminum line that goes inside the the car and it was noticeably cold. That made me think that the compressor is working, so I took the glove compartment out in order to check the heater core.
As I was looking around there I noticed the little plastic cover for the cabin filter. I pulled it out - I never seen a filter that dirty! There were leafs, dead bugs etc etc...
I bought the car about 1.5 years ago, but my wife has driven it only about 10k miles. I wanted to replace the cabin filter (I did replace the air filter) but I couldn't find it. I decided it's not a big deal and I'll check online and change it at a later time. Unfortunately I never got around to it. I think it hasn't been changed in at least 40k - 50k miles, if ever

Anyhow, I pulled it off and voila the AC started working ...
I noticed a quite loud noise when the AC is running, so I let out some of the gas out, I guess I overcharged it

Very unlikely problem isn't it?

I'm thinking to put a piece of AC insulation over the aluminum line that goes inside the car to preserve more of that cold air. Is there a reason not to do that?

Thanks for the help

[mikered30]

Originally Posted by ventsyv

I was able to fix the problem.
I checked all the fuses under the hood - everything was OK. (Which one is the AC and which one is the horn one by the way?) I touched the low end aluminum line that goes inside the the car and it was noticeably cold. That made me think that the compressor is working, so I took the glove compartment out in order to check the heater core.
As I was looking around there I noticed the little plastic cover for the cabin filter. I pulled it out - I never seen a filter that dirty! There were leafs, dead bugs etc etc...
I bought the car about 1.5 years ago, but my wife has driven it only about 10k miles. I wanted to replace the cabin filter (I did replace the air filter) but I couldn't find it. I decided it's not a big deal and I'll check online and change it at a later time. Unfortunately I never got around to it. I think it hasn't been changed in at least 40k - 50k miles, if ever

Anyhow, I pulled it off and voila the AC started working ...
I noticed a quite loud noise when the AC is running, so I let out some of the gas out, I guess I overcharged it

Very unlikely problem isn't it?

I'm thinking to put a piece of AC insulation over the aluminum line that goes inside the car to preserve more of that cold air. Is there a reason not to do that?

Thanks for the help

Glad it was an easy fix. I put pipe insulation over my low line to help insulate it, but I did not put it on the metal part of the line, just the rubber. My fear is that the pipe insulation will hold water when the low line sweats and have no where to go and eventually rot the line.

[fastfish]

You siad there was a 40 amp fuse under the dash?? where?? I'm having the same problem. A/c suddenly stopped working. Clutch will not engage. Already had the low pressure switch replaced but did not help. There is plenty of freon in the system. Hoping my problem is as simple as yours was.