air con q's

[mattysshop]

hey guys,

got a bit of a problem with the air-con in the old AE92..

compressor engauges all good, revs come up etc etc.. it behaves 100% normally,. but not cold at all, the car i had fixed up and given to my oldies as a runaround.. and mum being mum never used the air con in winter (despite me telling her to flick it on every now and again for shits sake) summer comes.. nope.. air not cold anymore..

there IS gas in the system, which suprised me as i thought it was empty.. i very very briefly popped the valves on both lines, and to my suprise there was still heaps of pressure..

now around the front of the compressor and the chassis rail, there is what i'm assuming compressor oil? or the oil from the lines? it's rediculously hard to get off.. even with degreaser and carby cleaner..

so the compressor has a leaking seal yes? WHY is there still gas in the system?

there are no abnomal noises or clunks etc etc when it is engauged or disengauged.. the air is just not cold..

may there not be enough refrigerant in the system for it to work properly?? but enough so there is still pressure in there??

before i employ a air-con guy to have a look, thought i would just test the waters..

[matty12]

The system will work with a low charge but has to have enough pressure so the low pressure switch doeant cut it out.

Feel th large pipe coming from the firewall when running,it should be cold to touch if not probably low gas charge.

Any which way,to do anything it will need to go top a licenced technician to test etc.

[mattysshop]

yep, i got a mate in mind..

thats what i was thinking.. but whats the go with the oil around the compressor?? if a seal is gone in it, 'shouldn't' it leak all the gas out..

none of the pipes are cold..

[Z2TT]

The oil from the compressor is probably a leaking seal, it would leak small amounts of oil/gas until there isn't enough gas where the pressure switch would be preventing the air con compressor from working. If the Gas has a U/V Dye in it, wipe the oil off from where it has been leaking from the a/c compressor, then turn the a/c on, within a few minutes of running you should see very small amounts of oil depending on how big the leak is accumulating around the area, shine the UV light and see.

If none of the pipes are cold, there is not enough gas in the system for it to function properly and cool, soon enough you'll find the compressor wont be turning on due to the low amount of gas.

If the gas has a UV dye like I mentioned, while your at it with the UV light check around in other areas for leaks, just so you know of all the other leaks that need to be fixed before the next regas.

[matty12]

It may be a leaking shaft seal,but dont discount the fact that it may just be engine oil etc.Depending on the size of the leak would depend on how quiclky it loses it.

[Z2TT]

What colour is the oil? Compressor oil should be clear. Run the system for a while, turn it off then feel around the compressor casing and see if it's oily.

Get yourself a UV Light, since most Gasses have a UV Die in them you will be able to tell if it's leaking by shining a UV light at it.

[mattysshop]

yep, i'll do all of that

i've cleaned off the oil that seemed to spead itself everywhere (ran onto the belts)

i'm assuming it was compressor oil.. it didn't seem like engine oil, as it was very very sticky to wipe off with a rag..