A/C in the Texas heat

[willtodo]

Im sure im going to take some bashin for this,, but,,im having cooling problems with the airconditionoing,,,Ive replaced the compressor ,,dryer and the liquid line with the little filter,i installed sound,and heat insulation throught the entire xj,above headliner behind plastic,under carpet ,,,,,,took it to a campatant shop to charge it up and it just wont cut it,,,, on a 90degree day city drivin its blowing 60-70 degrees depending on how much sittin im dooing,,, first thing in the morning at 75 it will blow 55. The shop says theres nothing wrong with it ,,that the vehicle wasnt know for blowing very cool from the get go,,, i say BS,,,, ive got a 83 nissan that will blow 48 in the same driving conditions. im planning on replacing the condenser, although i dont think its bad.

Whatchew guys think

[oderdene]

hope you set blower direction on MAX (next to OFF) position, in this position A/C recirculates air inside cab and cool down well. mine is blowing kinda hotter when set on outside hot air.

[msmoorenburg]

I would like to know the items 1. high side pressure 2. Low side pressure 3. Current temp outside.(all done at the same time with the system on, full fan speed,max a/c and doors shut) This will tell me if you have a blockage (bad orifice tube) or a weak compressor. So far my 97 heep blows in the 40's and i think Tony's is in the same area. Also how much oil did you put in the system when all the items were replaced?

hope it helps

[willtodo]

I would like to know the items 1. high side pressure 2. Low side pressure 3. Current temp outside.(all done at the same time with the system on, full fan speed,max a/c and doors shut) This will tell me if you have a blockage (bad orifice tube) or a weak compressor. So far my 97 heep blows in the 40's and i think Tony's is in the same area. Also how much oil did you put in the system when all the items were replaced?

hope it helps

High side 250
Low 43
ambient temp 75

I flushed entire system with solvent before installing compressor.I dumped out all of the oil that i could get out of new compressor and replaced with 6oz,, per shop intructions,,,I pulled vacum down to 20in and charged her up,,,took it to shop and they pulled it back down and found a few small leaks and charged her back up.

yes ,, i have it on resurculate,,,,I got to looking last night and found the boot for steering post that keeps air from passing through from fire wall was backed off letting a good bit of air in. Thats guna help,,but the air only came in when moving.

also,,, the reason i did all the work in the first place was when i checked pressures i saw that both the needls were vibrating real bad,,, now the high side has a tiny bit of movement low side not at all,,,, shop said thats normal.

[Mudderoy]

Matt and I (mainly Matt) worked on the 99 A/C system again recently. The first time we replaced the Evap, compressor with used stuff off of a 2000 he was parting out. It didn't cool right at least compared to the 1998. On Matt's advice I ordered a drier and a line that contains the orifice tube. Recently we changed it out. We found that the drier was oil soaked. It runs about 41 degrees now.

My 1998 was cycling on and off about every 5 seconds, and it was running about 48 degrees on the 90 degree outside air temp days we've been having recently. I finally got around to dumping some R143 in the system, and now it runs about 39 degrees!!!!! :thumbsup:

180

Oh I'll add; The 1998 A/C system stopped working about 2003. It was down for a little over a year. I tried some "O" ring seal on it, charged it with one of those $20 hose/gauges from WalMart and to my amazement it started working! Of course I had to jumper the low pressure cut off switch to get it to charge. Since then it will work for many months at a time and eventually start doing what it did recently, cycling on and off. I really don't know how long it takes before it starts cycling but I'm paying attention to it now. I'm hoping to fix this one so that it will hold a charge for years instead of 8 months or so. The 1998's A/C system is original. Nothing has been changed since it was new from the show room floor. :D

[msmoorenburg]

High side 250
Low 43
ambient temp 75

I flushed entire system with solvent before installing compressor.I dumped out all of the oil that i could get out of new compressor and replaced with 6oz,, per shop intructions,,,I pulled vacum down to 20in and charged her up,,,took it to shop and they pulled it back down and found a few small leaks and charged her back up.

yes ,, i have it on resurculate,,,,I got to looking last night and found the boot for steering post that keeps air from passing through from fire wall was backed off letting a good bit of air in. Thats guna help,,but the air only came in when moving.

also,,, the reason i did all the work in the first place was when i checked pressures i saw that both the needls were vibrating real bad,,, now the high side has a tiny bit of movement low side not at all,,,, shop said thats normal.

ok need more info??? Did you use compressed air to blowout the flush? How long did you evac the system? Personally I'm thinking filter dryer is moisture soaked or the orfice tube has trash in it. Normally I evac for 45 mins @28 in of vacuum. The pressures look a little high to me but they are with in spec. I charge by the "super heat method" low side pressure = discharge temp so I aim for 33~40 high side 2 1/2 times the outside temp. then have a gauge in the vehicle vent closest to the evaporator.

[willtodo]

ok need more info??? Did you use compressed air to blowout the flush? How long did you evac the system? Personally I'm thinking filter dryer is moisture soaked or the orfice tube has trash in it. Normally I evac for 45 mins @28 in of vacuum. The pressures look a little high to me but they are with in spec. I charge by the "super heat method" low side pressure = discharge temp so I aim for 33~40 high side 2 1/2 times the outside temp. then have a gauge in the vehicle vent closest to the evaporator.

I used a canister type flushing system that i charged up with my air compressor, I drained and cleaned out my air compresssor(not the a/c) with acetone to try and eliminate all the moisture i could. I pulled the system down to 28 for about 30min and let set for about an hr before i charged up ,,,,ive got a laser type temp gun,, and the coolest reading i can get under said conditions is 55,,,thats on a 75deg morn ,,,, if im runnin the roads mid day at 95 deg its dooin good to blow 60

[4.3LXJ]

Are you shooting the air coming out of the vent? Shoot the temp of the evap line at the fire wall. Are you saying you used a shop compressor to suck down the system?

[machinisttx]

I used a canister type flushing system that i charged up with my air compressor, I drained and cleaned out my air compresssor(not the a/c) with acetone to try and eliminate all the moisture i could. I pulled the system down to 28 for about 30min and let set for about an hr before i charged up ,,,,ive got a laser type temp gun,, and the coolest reading i can get under said conditions is 55,,,thats on a 75deg morn ,,,, if im runnin the roads mid day at 95 deg its dooin good to blow 60

Flushing the compressor tank eliminated the moisture that was there, but turning on the compressor puts moisture back in.

If you haven't already done so, replace the drier and the orifice tube.

[willtodo]

Flushing the compressor tank eliminated the moisture that was there, but turning on the compressor puts moisture back in.

If you haven't already done so, replace the drier and the orifice tube.

yes as stated in the original post the orface and dryer were replaced ,as was the compressor,, vacum was done with a vacum pump ,,,,,it is clear at this point that my unit is not cooling properly,,,when i get the chance i am going to replace the condenser ,,,orface line and dryer(agin),,puller back down and see waht she does,,, if the new dryer is soaked then it was from the 6oz i put into the system,,, if the tube is stoped up i didnt get her clean,,,,as far as moisture in the system,,,,how do you flush it without compressed air

[4.3LXJ]

Draw a partial vacuum, then let set in the hot sun. If you pull it down too fast, the moisture will freeze due to evaporation. Pull it down and let sit where warm, then start up the pump again to finish it. Moisture is not as critical in an automotive system as in house HVAC. It forms an acid that takes the windings out of the compressor because it is bathed in refrigerant for cooling purposes. In the auto AC there is no electric motor involved.

[willtodo]

will do

[machinisttx]

yes as stated in the original post the orface and dryer were replaced ,as was the compressor,, vacum was done with a vacum pump ,,,,,it is clear at this point that my unit is not cooling properly,,,when i get the chance i am going to replace the condenser ,,,orface line and dryer(agin),,puller back down and see waht she does,,, if the new dryer is soaked then it was from the 6oz i put into the system,,, if the tube is stoped up i didnt get her clean,,,,as far as moisture in the system,,,,how do you flush it without compressed air

If you want clean, dry air out of a compressor you need to use a filter and an air dryer. Air dryer - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

[msmoorenburg]

yes as stated in the original post the orface and dryer were replaced ,as was the compressor,, vacum was done with a vacum pump ,,,,,it is clear at this point that my unit is not cooling properly,,,when i get the chance i am going to replace the condenser ,,,orface line and dryer(agin),,puller back down and see waht she does,,, if the new dryer is soaked then it was from the 6oz i put into the system,,, if the tube is stoped up i didnt get her clean,,,,as far as moisture in the system,,,,how do you flush it without compressed air

I use Nitrogen to flush the system compressed air will work. it will kill a filter so flush it pull a good vacuum then replace the filter and pull a vacuum again.

[Mudderoy]

I use Nitrogen to flush the system compressed air will work. it will kill a filter so flush it pull a good vacuum then replace the filter and pull a vacuum again.

Is the filter and drier the same thing? If so this makes sense to me.

[msmoorenburg]

Is the filter and drier the same thing? If so this makes sense to me.

yes Tony it is :moon: