AC Question

tj2kj · **Posted:** Sat May 27, 2006 6:33 pm

When you turn on your AC, how long of an interval should your compressor stay on before it kicks off. My XJ is kicking off after about 1 second, and seems too short. Thanks..

DaveKJ02 · **Posted:** Sat May 27, 2006 7:24 pm

In the SM it says if it cycles more than 10 times/min, you are probably low on refrigerant.

priell3 · **Posted:** Sat May 27, 2006 7:26 pm

I had an A/C problem where the compressor would cycle on and off every second also. This was on my Sebring. A bad seal allowed the refrigerant to escape. It was fixed while under warranty.

Jeep Dawg · **Posted:** Sat May 27, 2006 8:18 pm

Your in luck here guys.
I am finishing up my technicial degree in HVAC.

Your issue with the compressor short cycling is 1 of 2 possiable things.
You either have a compressor going bad, ( COSTLY ) or you need to charge it with R-134a. Just a top off and see how log it last. If it stops short cycling, then you just needed a charge. In all honesty, with a sealed hermetic system, you should NEVER need to recharge. If you need to, then there is a really small leak in your system. On cars it is kinda common to have some kind of a leak of refrigerant but not much.

JuanS_TX · **Posted:** Sat May 27, 2006 11:44 pm

I feel my AC need to be charged with refrigerant. I purchased a recharge kit from walmart but it does not fit the Liberty. Any one have suggestions. My ac works fine for a while but every now and then it blows hot air. I hope it just needs to be filled with refrigerant.

Edwin · **Posted:** Sun May 28, 2006 12:10 am

Jeep Dawg wrote:

Your in luck here guys.
I am finishing up my technicial degree in HVAC.

Your issue with the compressor short cycling is 1 of 2 possiable things.
You either have a compressor going bad, ( COSTLY ) or you need to charge it with R-134a. Just a top off and see how log it last. If it stops short cycling, then you just needed a charge. In all honesty, with a sealed hermetic system, you should NEVER need to recharge. If you need to, then there is a really small leak in your system. On cars it is kinda common to have some kind of a leak of refrigerant but not much.

Why would this indicate a bad compressor?

tj2kj · **Posted:** Sun May 28, 2006 12:21 am

Ugh... That is what I was afraid of. Bought some refrigerant and found it is at the high side of full. I guess it is time to shop from a compressor. At least it is easy to get to on the engine.

Thanks...

liberated4life · **Posted:** Sun May 28, 2006 1:12 am

how did you know how much refrigerent was in the system without gauges? My suggestion is if your serious about doing the work yourself then you should go buy yourself a set of ac guages so that you can see the running pressures and then you will have a better understanding of what the problem is without the costly repair of replacing the compressor. Let me know what you figure out. I'm a tech for VW so tell me the pressures

Jeep Dawg · **Posted:** Sun May 28, 2006 8:08 am

Edwin wrote:

Jeep Dawg wrote:

Your in luck here guys.
I am finishing up my technicial degree in HVAC.

Your issue with the compressor short cycling is 1 of 2 possiable things.
You either have a compressor going bad, ( COSTLY ) or you need to charge it with R-134a. Just a top off and see how log it last. If it stops short cycling, then you just needed a charge. In all honesty, with a sealed hermetic system, you should NEVER need to recharge. If you need to, then there is a really small leak in your system. On cars it is kinda common to have some kind of a leak of refrigerant but not much.

Why would this indicate a bad compressor?

this is the reason,
When the compressor is running the pressurs are rising, and it could be tripping your hi limit. When the compressore shuts off, the valves could be leaking and making the presser rise too quickly and causing the compressor to kick back on again. Doing this too often could damage yout compressor. the refrigerant does not have enough time to equlize out and now when your compressore kicks back on, it is going on under hi head pressure and now causing more problems....

Edwin · **Posted:** Sun May 28, 2006 10:03 am

Jeep Dawg, I'm a HVAC contractor myself, and that's why I was wondering. In my experience, when a compressor has bad valves, it never reaches "operating" head pressure. The compressor will run all the time, with low head and high suction. Now if you had a restriction at the orrifice tube, that might cause the high limit to cut out.

tj2kj · **Posted:** Sun May 28, 2006 10:12 pm

With the messages going back and forth I decided to double check the AC - Found the problem. Apparently the connector on my pressure guage is going bad and did not connect tight. I went back and held the connector down on the valve by hand and the pressures normalized. Dumped a can of R-134a in and the compressor stayed on as it should. The refrigerant has a sealer in it, so I just hope it plugs the leak.

Jeep Dawg · **Posted:** Mon May 29, 2006 6:34 pm

Edwin,

I forogt about the oriffice. that could affect the operating pressures of the unit

JuanS_TX · **Posted:** Sat Jun 24, 2006 11:28 pm

I found out what was the problem with my ac. It was the AC clutch and not the freon. Yesterday the jeep was making a noise and when I took it in they told me it was the AC clutch. I ended up going to the dealer and got the part for $215. it lists for $250 but they let me have it for $215 since I bought a windows regulator to repair my drivers rear window. The mechanic installed the clutch for $100 bucks so now my ac works well. When I was at the dealer I was given a qoute of $325 plus freon to install the AC clutch.

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