AC acting goofy.

[aquariuscsm]

The Accord in my sig. We took a road trip today (100 mile hour and a half drive) all was well. AC was ice cold. Got to our first destination and spent a couple of hours. Got back into the car and noticed it wasn't blowing very cold. Didn't think much of it since it was sitting in the Texas sun closed up for a couple of hours. When we stopped at the first red light, the AC compressor was cycling on-off-on-off-on-off-on-off like clockwork. When it would cycle on, the rpm's would drop and the engine would shudder. Went on like this for about 10 miles to our next stop. We were there for about another 2 hours. Got in the car to come home and no on-off cycling, shuddering, etc. AC was ice cold and ran like a dream.

Yesterday I used one of those AC Pro recharge bottles because it was never as cold as it seemed it should be. Gauge on the hose read "low". I recharged it per instructions till the gauge read in the middle of the "filled" range.

Any ideas what caused that AC hiccup today?

 

[spasm3]

Perhaps low on refrigerant, and freezing up. Really need a set of gauges to see the high and low side pressures at the same time.

 

[LazyDog]

You might also want to check the cabin filter and wash the condenser by radiator.

 

[Chris142]

Overcharged or the condenser fan is not working. BTW a low side reading on that can means absolutley nothing

 

[aquariuscsm]

You might also want to check the cabin filter and wash the condenser by radiator.

I washed and cleaned the radiator and condenser gently and thoroughly earlier tonight. Cabin filter I've never done. I'll be sure and check that.

 

[aquariuscsm]

Overcharged or the condenser fan is not working. BTW a low side reading on that can means absolutley nothing

If I inadvertently overcharged it,do I need to take any measures to correct it, or will it eventually level itself out. It was definitely working flawlessly on our way home tonight. It was blowing so cold that I had to turn the temperature setting up and keep the fan on the lowest speed.

 

[Nick1994]

Find a reputable shop and have it refilled by weight. All cars leak a little bit.

I had my mechanic recharge my Genesis A/C this summer. I can't remember how much came out, 400 something grams. He filled to weight, I think 750g. Perfect now.

 

[LvR]

If I inadvertently overcharged it,do I need to take any measures to correct it, or will it eventually level itself out. It was definitely working flawlessly on our way home tonight. It was blowing so cold that I had to turn the temperature setting up and keep the fan on the lowest speed.

If it was working in an acceptable fashion during the last trip chances are you are not far off ................... if it was a bit colder out with higher humidity during that trip its possible an overcharged system could have been masked - without gauges it is difficult to say for sure. Most systems protect themself by disabling the pump when refrigerant pressure gets too high though.