We have a '95 Dodge Spirit (3.0 V-6). Up until today the A/C was excellent. Today it seems to have suddenly stopped working (only warm air). When we activate the "air" or push the "defrost" button it absolutely sounds like the compressor is turning on. Does this mean the compressor is OK ?? What other possible problems could there be??
Thanks, J.M.
The A/C on a Spirit is generally a reliable and trouble-free system.
Probably, but not necessarily. What sound are you using to judge that it "sounds like the compressor is turning on"? The compressor will just make a "Click!" when it comes on, if it does come on. The radiator fan will also start up, and some people mistakenly use that sound to check whether the compressor comes on.
Start the engine and turn on the system. Open the hood and go to the passenger side of the engine compartment, near the right-side hood hinge. Below the lower-right corner of the windshield, on the engine firewall, there are two pipes, originally painted black and usually retain most of that paint. These are the A/C lines -- they lead from the compressor to the expansion valve. Grab them with your bare hand. If one is distinctly warm and the other is distinctly cold, then there's nothing wrong with the refrigerant system and your problem is elsewhere, probably under the dash where a vacuum pot is not moving one or more of the air damper doors where it's meant to go.
If both pipes are the same temperature and these temperatures do not change, then there is something the matter with the refrigerant system:
-The compressor isn't turning on because of a failure in the compressor control circuit (which includes high- and low-pressure cutout switches, a thermal-sensing evaporator temperature regulation clutch cycling switch, the A/C control switches on the dash, two relays, two fusible links, the engine control computer and all interconnecting wiring, or
-The compressor isn't turning on because the refrigerant has leaked out of the system (low-pressure cutout would in this case prevent the compressor operating), in which case the leak must be found and fixed, or
-The compressor is turning on but is internally defective, or
-There is a clog in the system.
-DS
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