I have recemtly driven my trusty '95 S-10 from Philly to Phoenix. I had the A/C recharged, dyed and leaks fix before I left. It blew cold for a day then, blew warm air. When I got to Phoenix I called my old mechanic & he said they may have missed a O-ring, but theres dye so the next guy should find it. The Next Guy said $1000 for a new compressor, which I found should not make sense considering it still blows cold for a a couple hours before it’s warm again. So I take it to another guy, $80 to tell me they could find anything wrong! I said I found something wrong, the A/C doesn’t work. So now I am nervous to take my truck anywhere lest be ripped off. Here’s another thing, could the A/C problem be an electrical problem? My radio shuts off when I play it too loud and the interior/exterior lights have been dimmer (I’ve replaced all fuses). It also sound as if there is somw sort of liquid(!)behind my dash when I make turns, the same sound occured everytime I turned off my A/C after it was charged. I would do all the work myself if I was able to handle toxic gases myself (freon), but I can’t. Sorry theres alot there can anybody give some advice, I’m sweating like a thief in Church out here.
That’s a lot of words, but you have said little, and what you did say makes little sense…
Is the system charged properly with R-? now, as determined by connecting a set of gauges and operating the system.
Does the compressor clutch engage and operate the compressor continuously when the A/C is turned on?
Oh, by the way, Freon is not toxic.
The sloshing you hear may be water not draining from a condensation pan that is plugged. Look under the car and find the hose that should drain the pan. Take a wire and see if it is plugged. If you have compressed air, sometimes that works also.
You need to find an AC guy that has a sniffer to find the leak. Dye doesn’t always tell the complete story, in my personal experience. It would be best to run the AC to the point it quits working and then take it to an AC specialist, to look at immediately. Doing this gives the specialist a better chance to see what is going on. I suspect you have a leak, possibly at an O-ring, and it needs to be repaired first, then refrigerant loaded in. You may also need to have a complete evacuation done on the system.
What test was done to come up with the “needs a compressor diagnosis”? I would bet he says its leaking. Now you have dye in your system find some way or have someone check that compressor for leaks with a UV light and ask to look at the dye image yourself. What repair was done in Philly before you left? Iam trying to think of where a mistake could have been made.Sounds like your leak is big.I will use both the dye or the sniffer whatever it takes to find the leak,you have to be more experienced to use the sniffer IMHO
If a 14 year old compressor is not leaking I would be very surprised.
It’s near impossible to diagnose an A/C problem without knowing what the high and low side pressures are.
A compressor can leak and still work fine. If you’re saying the system blows cold air fine but gradually becomes warm (especially during highway driving) then the problem could be an evaporator icing. This can be caused by an improper refrigerant charge or it can be helped along by the sloshing sound you hear which is probably water being retained in the evaporator case.
Look under the lower right side and you should see a drain tube. Blow this out with compressed air or a soft wire such as a pipe cleaner and note if water gushes out after doing this.