Air Conditioner compressor cycles on and off every few secs

[dakotajeep]

Ok. I replaced the compressor last year and had it professionally filled. Unfortunately, I did not use the truck much after that.

Now its hot outside and I notice the A/C compressor is cycling on and off every 2-3 secs. I checked the pressure and got between 22PSI and 42PSI depending on whether the compressor clutch was locked up or not. I added a little bit of refrigerant and that didnt seem to help.

Does anyone have any thoughts?

Thad

 

[cm1hedge]

How much did you add? Is the suction line(big line) going back to the compressor cold? If not, add more. You really need gauges on both the lowe and high side to monitor your head pressure. If your head pressure is very high, and your low side is very low, you probably have a blockage somewhere(orifice tube).

 

[cm1hedge]

Another very easy check. Feel around the tubing. If it is cold other than the suction line, that is where your restriction is.

 

[dakotajeep]

ALright, I added more and the cycle time was further apart so I kept adding more and now the darn AC works as it should......I am now one step closer to keeping this truck....


Thad

 

[cm1hedge]

Now you just need to find the leak. Look for oily spots around the compressor, hoses, and coupling joints.

 

[zpd307]

yep, low refrigerant will cause the compressor to cycle quickly. if you just filled it, it means that you have a leak. all of my big rubber lines leak at the crimps, they are all oily...... so no a/c for me

 

[Dsl_Dog_Treat]

A good place for the system to start leaking after a compressor swap is the manifold itself. Hopefully whoever swapped compressors put new orings in. Check to make sure the manifold bolts are snug but be careful as they will strip out.
As said a leak will be evident by a wet spot, even a small one.


(Don't ask me how I know that)

 

[dakotajeep]

Ok it just needed coolant......lame....

 

[Andylad13]

42psi eh? When i filled mine, I didn't stop till about 65psi. I don't know what it is currently, but the A/C is cold.

 

[lotzagoodstuff]

Now you just need to find the leak. Look for oily spots around the compressor, hoses, and coupling joints.

Soapy water at all the joints and you'll find the leaks, just like a tire. Usually there's one bad oring, although time and heat can make all a/c hoses brittle, especially with turbo heat, very common problem on a 2.3 turbo ford gasser, where the compressor hose goes over the turbo.

Good luck

 

[dakotajeep]

No leaks just bad maintenance last time it was serviced by a shop....not cool...

 

[ghunt]

Mine's doing the same thing but I think it actually has a leak because it worked fine last year.

Guess I gotta get it into a shop and get it checked out, they told me they'd check it out and add UV dye and all that for around $120, which isn't too bad really.

 

[RLDSL]

42psi eh? When i filled mine, I didn't stop till about 65psi. I don't know what it is currently, but the A/C is cold.

If you don't have a nice big box fan blowing across the condenser to imitate road speed, that will lower the head pressure, then, a reading of 65 sounds about right. It's kind of hard to get decent readings sitting in the driveway.
I bet if you put a big fan up there and held the rpms around 2000 for 5 minutes it would read around 34

 

[OLDBULL8]

Ok it just needed coolant......lame....

Just slowly charge it until frost appears on the line out by the accumulator, then bleed out until the frost disappears. Did that for years on all kinds of refrigeration, garuanteed you'll have a full charge that way, if you don't have gauges.

 

[susieq]

Ok it just needed coolant......lame....

Well the good news is I now have a new electromagnet, pulley, and clutch head.....even though I had replaced the clutch head a couple of years ago...I thought the electro magnet was bad as you could still turn the clutch with the key on...was slipping...

had voltage to it..11.8 volts, but compressor was cycling like it was a bad clutch....
bottom lime...new clutch/pulley kit from orilies..$99....and 1 lb of 134...and all is well again

now to find the pesky leak that took two years to leak enough to make the compressor cycle...
geeesh...nothing like working in the sun when it is 93 outside in august in Florida....live and learn

q