i use chilton's to do a fair amount of work on my 1992 toyota corolla(140k,1.6L). but i'm not about to gamble with any a/c stuff.
still, i do have a question about the a/c system as a whole that might help me diagnose a problem.
from one day to the next the a/c went from frigidly cold to non-existant. the belt is not slipping (that i can tell) and the compresor engages when i hit the "a/c" button (i hear the engine idle slightly differently as though a load has been placed on it). fuses are ok, though i couldn't get the circuit breaker out to check it.
years ago this happened when i replaced the alternator. i had inadvertantly disconnected the electrical connector that goes to the compressor. plugging it back in fixed the situation instantly.
yesterday i was wiping off some oil (have a minor oil leak that seeps over time) from the under carriage around the area where the a/c compressor and timing belt cover are. now the a/c isn't cold anymore again.
are there other electrical connections in the area that i might have missed? the line for the alternator regulator (and ground?) is coupled a wire that goes down into the compressor where the belt/pulley is, and from the same spot (pulley) a wire comes up and attaches to the compressor itself (ground?). a second wire that branches off of the alternator wires slides onto a round metal knob (no idea what this connection is for).
if there was a coincidental refrigerant leak (and my activities were unrelated), could it go from frigid air to normal blower air in one day? or would the coldness of the air slowly go bad over time as the leak progressed?
my gut feeling is that the compressor and refrigerant are fine, just that something got disconnected)
are there any other basic, quick check tests for why the a/c coldness suddenly failed from one day to the next? (something that i can check with a voltmeter/ohmeter)
thanks so much for your time,
rxb