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Anyone good at car ACs

Altercall

I beat you all May '08 :)
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Wife’s car is being wonky. I can hear the clutch engage, and pressure drops on the low end when it does, but no cooling. Can give a much longer description for anyone with some knowledge.


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Hi. You may wish to tell us the year, make, and model car. And check and report if your maintenance/engine light is on.

My 2008 Saturn stopped cooling even thought everything was testing good and I had fresh refrigerant.
There was an unrelated Error code which I kept ignoring, but it was saying something to the effect that "expected engine temp not being met "
I just kept an eye on the coolant temp and everything was fine. 190 as usual. For months.

I finally replaced my thermostat and temp sensor, simply to remove the "check engine" nag alert. A day later I noticed the AC had returned to cooling like a champ, as well !
Woo Hoo! A two-fer !

Apparently the computer did not understand something with coolant (radiator) temp sensor reading. So it was shutting the AC down because it did not want the engine to overheat.
Now I know to watch for that. Just the weirdest thing.
 

Altercall

I beat you all May '08 :)
Rating - 100%
121   0   0
Joined
Jan 25, 2007
Messages
2,596
Location
DFW
Hi. You may wish to tell us the year, make, and model car. And check and report if your maintenance/engine light is on.

My 2008 Saturn stopped cooling even thought everything was testing good and I had fresh refrigerant.
There was an unrelated Error code which I kept ignoring, but it was saying something to the effect that "expected engine temp not being met "
I just kept an eye on the coolant temp and everything was fine. 190 as usual. For months.

I finally replaced my thermostat and temp sensor, simply to remove the "check engine" nag alert. A day later I noticed the AC had returned to cooling like a champ, as well !
Woo Hoo! A two-fer !

Apparently the computer did not understand something with coolant (radiator) temp sensor reading. So it was shutting the AC down because it did not want the engine to overheat.
Now I know to watch for that. Just the weirdest thing.
2010 3.2L Volvo XC90.

I’ve heard of that issue with the thermostat sticking. It tends to affect the engine temp more, but can cause issues with cooling the AC lines as well.

I ended up taking it in. I got a new gauge and noticed bubbles coming from my low pressure service port. I think the cheap Walmart gauge messed up the valve and caused a leak, every time I connected it the gauge wouldn’t seat well. I also noticed that the gauge under no pressure was reading 10 PSI, which may have accounted for the high pressure readings. The extra oil and conditioners from turning the can upside down may cave coated the pipes and kept the system from working properly. Had the valve changed and system recharged. Working well now


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