Grand Cherokee A/C problem

raleighjeepguy

New Member
Joined
May 27, 2007
Location
Raleigh,nc
So this year my wifes a/c hasnt been blowing cold. Figured it needed a recharge and grabbed a kit. Before I charged I checked the pressure. Well it starts out at almost none and cranks up to the danger level. This is like a 3 second process and then the compressor cuts off. Any ideas? 98 laredo btw
 
What is the pressure when the compressor is on? With it off, it will show a way high level. If the compressor stays on just a few seconds (cycles too quick) yer either low, or the pressure switch is bad, but I'd go with level first.
 
ok well

It gone down to about 20 and I gave it about the entire bottle to stabalize it in the normal range. Compressor stopped cutting out but its still no where near normal coolness. It felt about 5-10 degrees below outside temp
 
Don't hook the bottle with the gauge to the high pressure side.
You'll need proper gauges to check both sides accurately.
It sounds like it's really low on coolant, or has gotten some air/moisture into the lines.
Short cycling like that usually means low on coolant. It could mean overfull, but I doubt it.
Oh yea, and the high pressure side might shoot up to 300+ psi so odds are that gauge won't measure it.
 
What you need to do is go to an auto parts store and buy a gauge set for both the high and low pressure side of the system. It's the only right way to do it. I've used the single gauge setup and just filled from there, but screwing up the pressure on the high side of the system will end up taking out the compressor. It's worth the $40 or so bucks the two gauge setup costs to do the job right. Trust me, I've learned there's nothing worse than non-functional A/C on the wife's vehicle. Just last week I was dealing with a leaking condenser on the wife's liberty. It took a few days to get it all working again and it seemed like a weeks worth of nagging.
EDIT: Hscrugby beat me to it.
 
I'll try that this weekend and .....
It took a few days to get it all working again and it seemed like a weeks worth of nagging.
Click to expand...

Mine found out last week when she took a 8 hour trip to pa and back. I have never heard such screaching. She literally called me every 20min the entire time to tell me how hot it was. Well if she wouldn't have broken the front windows itd prob be nice to roll those down. Car runs great for 4 years for me and in 2 months shes destroyed all 4 tires, cracked a radiator, broken 2 windows, and ripped a door panel off.

and that doesn't include winter when she poured boiling water on the windshield :shaking: and cracked it about 2'
 
Yo,
There should be instructions on which way to orient the can of refrigerant when charging. Gas one way, liquid the other. The low side can be charged with liquid. A big fan in front of the vehicle, increased idle speed and a warm pan of water to put the refrigerant into will make things go better. It is assumed you are putting the correct refrigerant into the system? If there was some pressure on the system I would not worry about moisture. A low charge will usually frost the large line. Ditto for a good set of gages.

My $0.02
 
Back
Top