Could just need a good charge, do you have a CAI at all? mine messed up my lines and caused all my 134a to leak out, which in turn resulted in me having to replace all the lines... might be a good idea to check those for leaks.

 

aight so the compressor actually kicked on today and after i turned the motor off i could hear a hissing from in or around the accumilator..... is this just a normal, depressurization of it or something....it was blowing ice cold air and like i said it's been doing this on/off thing since last summer, so if it was a leak i would figure it would be bone dry by now

 

the hissing is normal. It is the liquid ( 134A ) flashing off to a gas and balancing the high/low sides of the system.


If the clutch kicked in and stayed on, you have a good charge.
If when it gets hot out and the system has a load on it, clutch kicks in and out, put a set of guages on it to see if you have high head pressure and the switch is going out on high head pressure.
Many causes for this but the most common would be that you do not have enough airflow through the condensor, or a blockage of air.
There are some commercial coil cleaners that will scrub all the gunk off the condenser coil, and allow better heat exchange.
Also, you could have a stuck TXV ( thermal expansion valve), a dirty evaporator coil, a dirty thermocouple in the evaporator which senses temp. or even a blend air door that is not activating, causing the thermocouple to think it is cold enough, and cycle the compressor.

 

hey gary....i like you....well your wealth knowledge i should say....thanks for the tips....i know what i'll be doing over the next week or so...YAY

 

I help with what i can, and ask for help with what i need.
It IS a good thing, and all can benefit from it.
Good luck,
EDIT: i've been wrenching on Mopars for close to 35 years, worked for a Chrysler dealer from 1976 through 1982 as an "A" mechanic.
It's the new computer stuff that gives me a run for my money, but most of the basic, is just that, basic.

 

yeah thanks, i'm gonna need it....i'm also dealing with a few issues on my car too at the moment, but at least the ac works on it.....texas heat can be killer

 

so i just hooked up a refrigerant refill with a pressure gauge and turned on the ac.....well it was fine pressure was in between 35 - 45 psi going up and down slowly.....i turned it off and then waited a few mins and turned it back on....the compressor didn't kick on and then the pressure climbed above 75psi???? ideas??

 

The pressure was balancing out from the high side. what was your high side pressure? What was the temperature of the air coming out of the vents? Pressure and temperature have a DIRECT relationship.

Remember the system is split into high and low when it is running, not at rest.
The compressor pumps the vapor up to like 325 and sends the vapor to the condenser, the fan draws air over the condenser cooling the vapor to a liquid, the liquid is under high pressure up to the expansion valve which is just a restriction, the liquid is allowed to expand into the evaporator as a gas because of the suction of the compressor. The rapid expansion of the gas absorbs the heat of the air passing over the evaporator and gives you air minus heat = cold air. you can not remove heat. laws of physics. you can only move it to a more desirable place (outside). the absorbed heat goes back to the condenser from the compressor and the heat once again is removed, over and over and over.

 

the air was ambiant temp....wasn't cooling at all......

but what causes it to run fine for a few mins than nothing at all for days? i'll try jumping out the hi/low switch tomorrow and see what happens...

would the high low switch cause it to just stop working....the pressure on low side is fine when it's actually running...i'll have to get something else to find out the press of the high side

 

sounds like you need a set of gauges to check hi-side pressure - i almost replaced the hi-side cut-out switch on mine thinking it was bad cuz it was kicking out the compressor on really hot days - turns out i had too much freon - check this vid out - he is right on target http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PqNR7...e=channel_page