[Carder_3G]

Have a 2002 Mitsubishi Eclipse at 180,000 miles. With the summer days starting up here in the south I need ac! I charged my ac last year and quit using it because my driver floor would get soaking wet. So I tried to turn it on yesterday and it won't blow cold at all! First thought was it leaked out. So I hooked my ac machine up and it holds pressure & has freon. Fans kick on when ac is pushed & the compressor engages. Just the vent blows normal air. Please help!

 

[Carder_3G]

Edit: Yes my control panel works. I can turn it to cold and nothing, turn it to heat and it blows hot. Can turn it to max speed or lowest. Also can change the mode to feet,head, etc.

 

[Bitter]

What pressures are you seeing while it's running?

 

[Carder_3G]

175 ish High Side. 75ish low side. If anything I just need a couple of ounces

 

[Bitter]

Low side is high and high side is low, there may be a blockage or weak compressor. I'm assuming that the ambient temp is high though, you'd only see low side 75 if it's really really hot out or the system is very over charged. But under both conditions you'd have high side pressures much higher than 175, which to me would indicate that 134a isn't passing from low to high side correctly, whether it be a blockage or a weak compressor I don't know. You should evac the system and see if you can inspect the receiver drier for funk and gunk on the filter bag for the desiccant.

 

[Carder_3G]

Might I add that my car wasn't warmed up & was baking in the sun.i pulled it in and immediately hooked the machine up. Would that play a factor? Also I read that the evaporator gets junk on top of it? Could that be my problem?

 

[Carder_3G]

Edit: It will also slowly began to get cold when driving. But won't at idle.

 

[Bitter]

Yea, AC works on pressure differential so if you increase RPM the compressor is pumping faster which would overcome an issue like a weak compressor or a blockage, then at idle it would loose the differential and stop cooling as well. Get the gauges on it and check it again at idle after running for a while, then at a fast idle like 1500-2000 RPM. On a properly working system you should see pressures matching with this chart at idle and at higher RPM the low side may be a little lower and high side a little higher, but still near those numbers. Low airflow through the condenser would cause high highside pressures but low side would still be low. This kind of sounds like a weak compressor, but they usually get weak cause they're coming apart inside and you'll find metal flake on the desiccant bag and black film on the insides of the lines or the compressor oil will be black. If that's the case then when the compressor is replaced the system MUST be solvent flushed, the receiver drier replaced, the metering device replaced, and the whole system thoroughly vacuumed for a long period of time (30 min at 20 or more inches) to remove all the solvents. All the lines get blown with solvent and air, the condenser and evap core get blown with solvent and air too. Any remaining metal can kill the new compressor. Hopefully that's not the case.