I had to take the van in to have the belt put on, and even they struggled mightily with it.
It blew some cold initially, but squealed around corners and occasionally when idling, just like it did with the old belt. I see a milky color whooshing past the inspection window, but I wouldnt call it foam. The left driver vent blows cold air and they get less cold to thr right. The right side passenger vent blows very slightly chilled air or even warm air. Fortunately I rarely have passengers in this car.
The milky color /is/ foam - it's tiny bubbles of vapor refrigerant in the clear liquid refrigerant flowing by. If it was sufficiently charged, you'd see liquid flowing by with just enough little bubbles entrained in it to easily show the flow direction and speed.
Sounds like it's very low on refrigerant, or there's another problem like the condenser fan isn't coming on.
Squealing around corners could be the power steering pump belt slipping - is that on a separate belt from the AC?
Hmmm... If it's barely working it's entirely possible for most of the cold to go to one side - the air would flow in a fairly laminar manner after getting "strained" through the fins of the heater core and the evaporator core, if the ductwork splits right after the evaporator core all the cold from the inlet side could easily be aimed at the duct outlet heading to the left vent...
I'd have to tear the heater box and ductwork apart to see if that's what could be happening with yours.
When you depress the belt, it should not deflect more than about a half inch. Check the power steering fluid level. I suspect that the power steering belt is loose.
The milky stuff flowing past the inspection window is foam, indicating air in the system; it probably needs to be re-charged.
On Jun 16, 9:27 am, "Ray O" wrote: The problem with releasing refrigerant from the schrader valve is
When I say that, you don't let out enough to effect anything. Just quick enough to see if pressure or not. Very little will actually come out if you are fast. Technically, it probably would be considered illegal, but it's such a tiny amount I don't worry about it. You can just barely press it until you hear a hiss, and if you do, even slight, you are good to recharge. Course, if you push and hear nothing, keep pushing farther.. If still no hiss, Houston, we have a problem... :( The amount lost is probably less than the amount lost when unscrewing a set of gauges. MK
True, but I prefer recommending that people look at the sight glass - this is the method described in the factory repair manual, no refrigerant lost, and there is no question about whether you are breaking the law or not..;-)
I do too, but you then have to the compressor running to see if it's got anything in it. Checking the valve will let you know before changing the belt, if adding a belt is even worth doing at that time.. Not much point if it's totally empty. They would probably be better off taking it to a shop, unless they have all the tools, etc. You can always use gauges to check an unrunning system to see if it has any pressure. Even a color code cheapy. And that would be legal. But, like I say, you will likely lose as much or more vapor just unscrewing the gauges as you will blipping the shrader valve for a second. Punching the valve will let them check it real fast without needing any gauges. You oughta see how much I blow out when disconnecting the high side of a residential unit, if not using a quick disconnect... I blow a bit of liquid, even unscrewing as fast as I can.. Usually burns the skin on my hand from the extreme low temps.. And what I'm doing in that case is legal. The amount lost punching a valve on a car is super tiny compared to that. It's not even near enough to have any effect on the system operation. But once running , I also think the sight glass is the best indicator. But many cars don't have a sight glass.. I'm not sure if my corolla does or not.. I haven't looked yet.. My accord has one.. But many brands don't have em.. IE: many U.S. vehicles go cheap and leave them off.. When I install new condensing units, I always add a sight glass along with the usual filter driers, etc.. I don't actually need it to charge, but it's nice to have the 2nd indication, and it's also handy for the homeowner as they can take a quick look at the glass and tell in a glance if they are low or not. It also gives a quick indication of moisture in the system, but the car glasses don't have that color indicator like the home versions do. MK
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