AC suddenly started blowing in warm air

Discussion in 'General Motoring' started by Sahar Choudhury, Jul 16, 2003.

  1. Had my 95 Honda Accord Automatic re-gassed. AC worked great for day
    and a half. On 2nd day, stopped car after a drive. About 10 mins later
    started the car and now the AC only blows in warm air. I have fiddled
    with all knobs etc but to no avail. Any ideas?

    regards
    sahar London, UK
     
    Sahar Choudhury, Jul 16, 2003
    #1
  2. Sahar Choudhury

    TL Guest

    You don't say why you had it recharged. Was it working before? If it
    wasn't getting cold enough before, you may have been low on the gas as
    a result of a leak. Perhaps recharging has made that more pronounced
    as a result of repressurizing the system.

    Or it could something simpler like knocking a wire loose on the
    compressor that finally fell off after a couple of days of driving.
     
    TL, Jul 16, 2003
    #2
  3. I bought the car second hand and the air conditioner was blowing only
    slightly cool air.
    Inspection of the AC system by a AC mechanic showed it was empty - i watched
    him pump 650 cc
    of AC coolant into the system

    the compressor does come on when AC is turned on - i have checked this

    Also, theres a little upright metal canister under the bonnet with a glass
    spy hole on top
    connected to the AC, when I turn it on, i see fluid and bubbles running
    through ?
     
    Sahar Choudhury, Jul 16, 2003
    #3
  4. Sahar Choudhury

    Nick Guest

    If the bubbles are large that would tend to indicate low refrigerant
    pressure. Under normal circumstances you should hardly see any
    bubbles. You most likely have a leak somewhere in your system.

    Nick
     
    Nick, Jul 16, 2003
    #4
  5. Good chance that there is a leak in the system. The new planet-friendly
    refrigerant, which replaces old Freon on any cars model year '94 and later,
    is a much smaller molecule, which means it can leak out very quickly through
    minor leaks which could require weeks or months to drain the system with the
    old Freon. The system should be checked very carefully for leaks before
    another recharging.
     
    Joe and Ruth Levy, Jul 16, 2003
    #5
  6. Do you know if your car has R-12 or R-134a refrigerant? It should be
    marked somewhere under the bonnet. In the U.S. the changeover years were
    1993/4 but I'm not sure if that was the case for the U.K.

    With the old R-12 refrigerant, when the A/C compressor is running there
    should be no bubbles in the sight glass at all under normal conditions of
    temperature where A/C is normally used - that was the easy check for
    refrigerant level in the system.

    With the new R-134a, I'm not sure what is considered normal. I understand
    that there is less liquid phase in the system, than with R-12, so *some*
    bubbles may be normal. It's not such a reliable check as it used to be
    which is why most mfrs no longer fit the receiver/dryer with a sight glass.

    Does the A/C cycle on and off too quickly or does it just run and yet not
    provide sufficient cooling? It's possible that the A/C mechanic added
    refrigerant with some fluorescent indicator in it which would allow tracing
    any leaks you might have.

    Rgds, George Macdonald

    "Just because they're paranoid doesn't mean you're not psychotic" - Who, me??
     
    George Macdonald, Jul 16, 2003
    #6
  7. Turn the AC on, the fan fully on, and hold the engine at driving RPM
    (~2500 RPM) for one minute. The glass should be clear or foggy. The
    presence of bubbles indicates a low charge. Now drop the engine RPM
    down to idle. Some bubbles may swirl through every now and then. If
    they don't, it might be overcharged.

    Also check the stickers for the refrigerant type. R-12 coolant is
    banned and a mechanical modification may be required for use with R-134a.
     
    Kevin McMurtrie, Jul 16, 2003
    #7
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