Alright, I am new to the form & this is my very first post. I purchased a 2002 Dakota with the 4.7 back in 2013. The guy i bought it from said the AC didn't work as the coil the fan blows the air through was clogged. I tried the AC once and it didn't blow very hard & only blew warm air (compressor did engaged though) so I just turned it off and never ever used it.

Fast forward to about 3 weeks ago, yes 12 years later, this truck has become my primary vehicle again so I decided it was finally time to see what all was wrong with the AC system aside from the coil being clogged and if it was worth fixing as it is hot in Tennessee.

I turned it on and the compressor kicked on and froze the low pressure line and only blew warm air. I couldnt beleive there was anything in the system at all after all those years! So I added some R134A refrigerant and to my absolute astonishment, it started blowing cold! Are you kidding me?!?

I got some pressure gauges from harbor freight and adjusted the pressures within range. I will note that for the ambient temperature, the low pressure side was at the lowest point it should be but was within its range and the high pressure side was right at the highest point it should be, barley, but within range.

I have been running it for 3 or 4 weeks now and it is blowing nice and cold, working really good considering it's age.

It's not perfect, it does blow cool pretty much instantly but it takes it a minute to get ice cold but it does get ice cold.

Now here are my questions & concerns.

After 3 or 4 weeks, still getting ice cold, is it pretty safe to say it's holding the charge? Probably not leaking?

When you turn the AC off or first turn it on, you can hear the refrigerant/liquid circulating through the coil behind the dashboard. Is this normal? It usally goes away after driving a little bit.

Final question and concern is the compressor.

It turns on and off with the AC switch as it should. When the air is running, everything is wet & dripping as it should be, nothing freezing, air blows nice and cold.

The compressor doesn't cycle though unless the blower motor (works fine) is on the lowest setting. The compressor stays engaged constantly no matter if it's on recirculat or not, where the temp **** is set or the blower setting is (except for low). As stated above, it will engage and disengage with the AC button and with turning the air on/off with the switch as it's supposed to. But when it's running, it will only cycle when the blower motor is on its lowest setting.

Is this normal for these trucks?

What are my next steps?

I don't have a lot of money so taking it to a shop isn't much of an option for me.

I am super happy & thankful that it is working but I also want to make sure it is working right and not headed towards permanent damage.

Any help and advice is greatly appreciated!

 

The system is operating normally. If it's leaking at all, its a very slow leak. You can't expect instant cold air though, it DOES take a bit for the system to start actually cooling. But, that too, is perfectly normal.

This is one of those things: "If it ain't broke, don't fix it."