a/c problem.. again :(

Asialee

Asialee

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Hello everyone.. Hope all is well with all of you :)

Today as I was going to pick up my daughter from school, riding with the a/c on after about 10 mins or so, hot air starts blowing out of the dash board vent, (not the side vents) so I turn off the a/c for a moment turned it back on and ice cold air is coming out of the vents... not more then 2 miles down the road warm air again :confused: The air fan speed ( low, med, high) are working fine, I can also hear the compressor coming on as well. so I have no idea what this could be.. any idea to what may be going on ??

thanks ~
 
Asialee said:
Are you serious ?? I just had that replaced maybe a year ago.. If i remember correctly, I didnt have any cold air at all when that happend. :(
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Okay, it is warm or not-cooled air, or is it heated, too hot to stand air?

Warm or not-cooled (in this case) = AC refrigerant low.

Heated = the DCCV again.
 
joegr said:
Okay, it is warm or not-cooled air, or is it heated, too hot to stand air?

Warm or not-cooled (in this case) = AC refrigerant low.

Heated = the DCCV again.
Click to expand...

Hey Joe ~
It was warm air.. I just came back in from sitting in the car with the a/c on for like 5 mins nothing but ice cold air was blowing out.. working fine, but i don't hold my breath lol I'm sure it'll happen again !
 
i have the same issue, i read on here that if you crank the temp as high as it will go then back down its a temp fix, but mine gets to hot to handle on the passenger side , always opposite of what the driver side is
 
Asialee said:
Hey Joe ~
It was warm air.. I just came back in from sitting in the car with the a/c on for like 5 mins nothing but ice cold air was blowing out.. working fine, but i don't hold my breath lol I'm sure it'll happen again !
Click to expand...

Okay, so other possibilities are (at least, there may be more):

Loose wiring.
Failing compressor clutch.
Failing DATC.
Failing temperature sensors.
Failing expansion valve.
Failing compressor.

This added to the already suggested:

Failing DCCV
Low refrigerant


I had very similar symptoms on my 01 ranger. When the AC worked, it was as cold as you wanted it, but after a while it would stop. I could then turn it on and off and sometimes it would come back for a while.
It took time before it stopped while it could look at it. The AC clutch was failing to engage when hot. (You could tap it to get it going.)
I fixed it by removing the clutch plate, cleaning out bits of metal stuck to the electromagnet, and removing one of the shim washers.

All this to say that it could still be a low to no cost fix.
 
Wow that's a lot of possibilities !! I guess I'll wait and see what happens from day to day.. I'll be sure to keep you posted as to what's going on.. thank you !
 
Well I knew it would happen again LOL... on my way to pick up my daughter from school ( she came home sick ) the air was nice and cold for about 10 mins then it was the warm air, not hot just warm. After about a minute of warm air, it was cold again but this time within a minute or so it was back to warm... So I guess you get the idea, warm, cold warm, cold. I just shut it off and opened up my sun roof... Does that help narrow it down a bit, now that it's just going back and forth between warm and cold air?
 
I don't think that it is the DCCV (but it is not impossible that it is). Can you get it to do this (cold...warm...cold...) while it is sitting still?

At this point, to correctly narrow it down, someone will have to connect high and low pressure gauges to the refrigerant system and watch the clutch. By seeing with the pressures do and the clutch does when the air goes from cold to warm and back, it should be pretty clear what is going on.

While you could get any good AC shop to do this diagnosis, you safest bet would be to go to a Ford/Lincoln dealer. The diagnosis charge will be about $100. You don't have to get the work done there, you can find a cheaper shop maybe. However, you really don't want anyone who doesn't know about this system on the LS to try and diagnose it. It is not the average AC setup. The variable displacement compressor can throw some people off.
 
joegr said:
I don't think that it is the DCCV (but it is not impossible that it is). Can you get it to do this (cold...warm...cold...) while it is sitting still?

At this point, to correctly narrow it down, someone will have to connect high and low pressure gauges to the refrigerant system and watch the clutch. By seeing with the pressures do and the clutch does when the air goes from cold to warm and back, it should be pretty clear what is going on.

While you could get any good AC shop to do this diagnosis, you safest bet would be to go to a Ford/Lincoln dealer. The diagnosis charge will be about $100. You don't have to get the work done there, you can find a cheaper shop maybe. However, you really don't want anyone who doesn't know about this system on the LS to try and diagnose it. It is not the average AC setup. The variable displacement compressor can throw some people off.
Click to expand...
When the car is sitting still, works just fine ice cold air... I sat out there for 10 minutes and it worked perfectly. Yes, I plan on taking it to dealership to get checked within the next two weeks. I have a feeling this isnt going to be cheap :(
 
Asialee said:
Yes, I plan on taking it to dealership to get checked within the next two weeks. I have a feeling this isnt going to be cheap :(
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Ouch... well if it makes you feel any better... my AC doesn't work at all!

joegr said:
However, you really don't want anyone who doesn't know about this system on the LS to try and diagnose it. It is not the average AC setup. The variable displacement compressor can throw some people off.
Click to expand...
Variable displacement???
 
Just drove my lovely LS for about 40 mins round trip even sat in the car for another 10 mins or so and the a/c worked great :confused: This is really starting to bug me, not knowing what's wrong with it !
 
Asialee said:
Just drove my lovely LS for about 40 mins round trip even sat in the car for another 10 mins or so and the a/c worked great :confused: This is really starting to bug me, not knowing what's wrong with it !
Click to expand...

It's sounding a lot like a marginal compressor clutch or loose wire.
 
joegr said:
It's sounding a lot like a marginal compressor clutch or loose wire.
Click to expand...

Lets hope it's just a loose wire, but heres my question, if the a/c works fine sitting still, how would they be able to connect high and low pressure gauges to the refrigerant system and watch the clutch, (due to the car is blowing out cold air all the time when parked) Hope you understand what i'm trying to say :)

thanks again Joe for all your info :)
 
I understand, and it will be a big pain to diagnose if they can't make it fail while sitting still. (They can connect a scan tool and read the high pressure side while driving at least.)

I reread your post about the last failure. It's still possible that it's just low refrigerant. If so, they can detect that while it's sitting still, even if it is cooling okay then.
 
Elemino said:
...
Variable displacement???
Click to expand...

The SC105V Variable Scroll A/C compressor has the following characteristics:

A variable capacity function controlled by a suction pressure sensing device.
A fixed and orbiting scroll to provide refrigerant compression.
A non-serviceable shaft seal.
The A/C compressor uses PAG Refrigerant Compressor Oil (R-134a Systems). This oil contains special additives necessary for the A/C compressor.

The A/C compressor contains a thermal cutout switch which senses the compressor housing temperature. The switch will disengage the A/C compressor clutch if the housing temperature exceeds 120°C (247°F).
 
joegr said:
I understand, and it will be a big pain to diagnose if they can't make it fail while sitting still. (They can connect a scan tool and read the high pressure side while driving at least.)

I reread your post about the last failure. It's still possible that it's just low refrigerant. If so, they can detect that while it's sitting still, even if it is cooling okay then.
Click to expand...
Sounds good.. Guess my next step is to try to find some time and take it to the dealer. I'll keep you posted as to what's going on :) thank you ~~
 
Asialee said:
Your right, it's about the same :).. Silly question here, what's wrong with your a/c ??
Click to expand...
It doesn't blow cold at all... never. Not at start up, and not after running a while. Even when cool outside and set to 60 and the engine is cold. When the A/C is running you can hear the gas circulating in the system, its pretty loud. But no temp change.

joegr said:
The SC105V Variable Scroll A/C compressor has the following characteristics:

A variable capacity function controlled by a suction pressure sensing device.
A fixed and orbiting scroll to provide refrigerant compression.
A non-serviceable shaft seal.
The A/C compressor uses PAG Refrigerant Compressor Oil (R-134a Systems). This oil contains special additives necessary for the A/C compressor.

The A/C compressor contains a thermal cutout switch which senses the compressor housing temperature. The switch will disengage the A/C compressor clutch if the housing temperature exceeds 120°C (247°F).
Click to expand...
Thanks for that info! I have no clue how some of that affects anything though. lol I'll just know that it is likely nothing like the AC in my '89 Town Car.

Asialee... it sounds like low gas too me as well, but I don't know this system so well. But from a technical stand point, the engine reving higher could cause the pressure to go too low and cause the compressor to cut out. Of course that's only on a normal AC system.
 
Have the a/c checked. I had the same issue about a year ago and ignored it. My a/c finally stopped blowing cold air about 6 months ago and they told me I had to replace the compressor because of a leak. Not only the compressor but the drier, condenser and expansion valve needs to be replaced on mine. I now drive with the windows down.
 
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