? For The A/C Gurus

J

JustinR

Tree Top Flier
Joined
Jun 15, 2007
Messages
76
The AC compressor on my '06 went out and I had it replaced with a rebuild I bought off Ebay (along with the drier). The air blows cold now, but after 30+ minutes of highway driving I find it's still barely cool enough on max high. It used to be that I had to turn it down a little after driving on the highway for a few minutes.

Today I just realized that the compressor is constantly on and not cycling on and off like it used to. Can a high/low freon level cause this or is something else not right?
 
Did you replace the liquid line with the orifice tube? I'd say if your compressor went out it clogged your orifice tube and probably the condenser.

Scott
 
No, I didn't replace those parts.

I'm not 100% sure what happened. I started the truck to cool it down and went inside for a minute. When I came back out I smelled something burning and turned it off and popped the hood. There was thick white smoke coming from the compressor/clutch area and it kept coming out for a few minutes after I turned it off. I could also hear a drip and sizzle sound as it was smoking. It wasn't locked up so the smoke wasn't coming from the belt. The AC guy said it looked like the clutch was burnt pretty bad.
 
BigPapa said:
Did you replace the liquid line with the orifice tube? I'd say if your compressor went out it clogged your orifice tube and probably the condenser.

Scott
Click to expand...

That would be my best guess also.
 
Forgot to mention....He vacuumed the system out and said there weren't any metal shavings or anything abnormal.

Would it normally be metal shavings that would clog those parts you guys are talking about?
 
yes. "normally" when you do a/c job you replace; compressor, orfice line, and dryer, and clean condensor. To make darn sure there isnt any metal shavings or foreign material floating around the system.

I just replaced everything today, and gonna go monday to get it vac'd out and charged.
 
I'd say the orifice is plugged but you have a bigger problem if your new compressor melted! I assume you were telling about the first failure?! If your getting warm going down the freeway I would say your freon level is low. Have it checked again! These systems are very touchy and I was blowing the pressure valve in traffic. Turned out I didn't have enough air flow thru the condensor and the high pressure was causing the failure. I installed a fan on the outside of the condensor blowing into the engine and have been fine ever since!
 
Iif you turn the ac off for a while then back on will it cool? Just wondering if you could have a switch bad causing the compressor to run all the time, causing the evaperator to freeze up. Or maybe a partially caused orfice tube could cause it to freeze?
 
Need to have the refrigerant level checked again. It is possible you have a clogged orifice that would cause the high side to be too high and push the refrigerant out.
 
It sounds as if you have burn't the clutch assembly up. Usually from extreem head pressure, (system not shutting off, clogged etc...) you will need to flush the entire system, replace the orfice tube and the drier. Also make sure your condensor and radiator are clean. An engine that runs hot will affect the cooling and head pressure of the AC system. I dont sell rebuilt compressors if new is available.
 
Thanks for all the info guys!

I should have been more clear in my description. The white smoke and no cold air were with the original compressor. It's blowing cold since I had the compressor/drier replaced, but it's not cycling off (just stays engaged all the time). I'm really hoping it's just a freon pressure level that's causing this. I don't have any AC gauges and that's the only part of the truck I don't work on myself....so it's frustrating having to deal with a mechanic.

Can you buy the refrigerant with a gauge already on the bottle, or do you have to buy a full set of AC gauges to check the pressures?
 
They have the freon bottle with the color guage you can hook up on the LOW side! That's on top of the dryer! It will give you a good idea! If your only concern is that it doesn't cycle don't worry about it! They only stop when a pressure is to high or to low. If it stays on it's working perfectly! It may cycle when the cab temperature reaches max cooling!
 
need to revac the system ,and then charge it ,, if you have high pressure on the low side you got metal in the system ,change orifice valve .. and may need to change the pressure switch to ...
 
i have a question... I put in a new(reman) compressor, orface line, and dryer yesterday. was just checkin the compressor and i turn on the ac and the clutch doesnt lock up??? it has oil in it, but no freon. is there a sensor or somthin in the compressor that wont let it turn on without freon?
 
ok good. Im gonna go tomorrow and get it charged up and wanted to make sure everything was ready to go. it sucks not having ac in texas....
 
if not vacuumed correctly, excessive air/moisture in the system will cause high head pressures.
Definately a head pressure issue though. Especially since the clutch is fried on the compressor.

Lance
 
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