I was on vacation last week and drove our 03 Legacy wagon. This morning as I was going to work, I turned on the AC in my 97 Legacy sedan and there was no AC. The AC worked without a hitch up until I went on vacation. When I push the AC button, the light comes on, but the compressor doesn't kick in. I was going to do a full tune up on the car, but I never got a chance to - nothing under the hood was touched. The only thing that was done to the car was it was washed and vacuumed by my wife on Saturday nite. She is a neat nut, so is there anything that she could have disconnected/broke by vacuuming the inside of the car (especially on the driver and passenger foot areas?

 

Is there anything else I should check out?

 

Thanx - Pete

It is probably just that time, that the pressure level dropped below the sensor threshold. On the receiver/drier there is an electrical connection, if you hav a diagram you can probably jump it to test.

 

The AC machines that recharge systems are pretty common, I would think most full service independent shops might have one. You shouldn't pay >$75 to have it recharged.

 

I wouldn't recharge it myself. I just finished a complete replacement of my AC, did the component work myself, but had a shop evacuate the system and recharge it.

 

As to the accidental disconnect, it's possible, there are 2 connectors to the evap box under the right side of the glovebox, but they are pretty well hidden, and you will scrape up your hand reaching them, so be careful.

double

Take a look for rock chips on the condensor in the front of the car, which is the first radiator-looking thing you see when you look in through the grill openings in the front of the car. If you see a chip and an oily-dark area around it, you need a new condensor and an AC recharge.

The compressor not going on says something electrical to me. If the clutch isn't engaging to make the compressor catch, I wonder if the fuse/relay to it is blown?

The compressor not going on says something electrical to me. If the clutch isn't engaging to make the compressor catch, I wonder if the fuse/relay to it is blown?

 

 

Except that there is a pressure switch in the AC line that wont let the clutch engage when the pressure in the system drops too low.

 

 

You can jump the siwtch, but i dont advise that unless your 100% sure the AC system is fully charged. Running a compressor with low/no gas can ruin it.

 

 

nipper

Except that there is a pressure switch in the AC line that wont let the clutch engage when the pressure in the system drops too low.

 

 

You can jump the siwtch, but i dont advise that unless your 100% sure the AC system is fully charged. Running a compressor with low/no gas can ruin it.

 

 

nipper

That's true. Assuming it had a slow leak, that's completely possible.

I had a quarter of a can of R134a from a couple of years ago with a pressure guage. I connected it to the AC unit and saw that it was low. I emptied the can into the AC system, which after the can was empty, brought the gauge right to the beginning of ok on the dial. I then drove the car for a couple of miles and everything started to cool down. It wasn't icy cold, but it definitely was much cooler than the start of the day.

 

I'll porbably bring it in for service over the weekend, and get a full evac and refill, plus check for leaks.

[...]get a full evac and refill, plus check for leaks.

...but not in that order...

 

Leak checking can usually be done with a relatively low refrigerant charge. If some fitting is loose, it might be possible to just tighten it and recharge without evacuating the system (since it's obvious that it never fully lost charge, based on only needing a small amount to get it running). If a seal is bad and requires opening the system, that's another story.

Fingers crossed that it's not a major leak...

 

...but not in that order...

 

Leak checking can usually be done with a relatively low refrigerant charge. If some fitting is loose, it might be possible to just tighten it and recharge without evacuating the system (since it's obvious that it never fully lost charge, based on only needing a small amount to get it running). If a seal is bad and requires opening the system, that's another story.