Help

Can you hear an electric switch clicking on and off?

Billy Ray,

I'll pay more attention tomorrow. I don't think so, but I turn it off when it stops cooling. One day, I thought I heard a click before it stopped.

Mary Ann

I bet your low on refrigerant.

Jeff DeWitt

MAP wrote:

Mary Ann,

If you are low on refrigerant your system will start up but as the available pool is sucked down it will shut off via a 'low pressure switch'. As it sits the pressure will stabilize and the system will 'click' on again.

The clicking is a electro-magnet clutch on the compressor which is underneath your hood.. It is quite noticeable once you know what to listen for.

Jeff,

I may be. We put some in earlier this week and tried to see if there was a leak.

Thanks,

Billy Ray,

If I do not turn off the air conditioner, then it doesn't get cool again. It is only when I turn it off that it will begin to cool again. We put some refrigerant in a few days ago and looked for leaks. I'll listen tomorrow.

Thanks again,

Nick,

Thank you. I'll check.

I've monitored the air conditioning the last couple of days, and I'm still not sure what is going on. Yesterday was not such a hot day, and with the windows open, I made it 40+ miles without it croaking. Sometimes on the 1 hr ride to work and back to home, I did not keep the window open because of the noise with the cell phones. I cannot hear anything, but the cooling stops and then begins again when I turn off the air conditioner and wait a little while.

Thanks to you on this group for your help,

They tell us at the parts store that we have to buy a compressor to get a clutch. Is this correct?

Thanks,

Yes, but you 'really' need to take it to an AC shop before you start throwing money at it. There are a pile of parts in there.

If it is just a leak, then you might just need to tighten a fitting or you could be cursed with what appears to be a defective evaporator core. Lots are failing, that's for sure... The only part you can't get too.... Shops want between $600.00 to a grand to fix the sucker. The whole dash has to come off! Not a 'hard' job, just a labor intensive one. You have to drop the steering column down too.

The shops have or you can get a dye product to put into the coolant so you can see the leak. The problem happens when you can't see the leak, then it's inferred it under the dash.

You say you added coolant, but do you have any way of knowing 'how much' is in there?

Mike