My AC hasn’t been working for about a week now. It’s just pushing heat, which makes sense with all of the hot weather. We did have a heavy downpour (torrential rain?) in the Cincinnati area about a week and a half ago. Is it possible water pushed up under my car and caused issues with the AC? Any other ideas? Solutions on a fix?
Start the engine
Put the ac control head on the lowest possible temperature setting, make sure the “ac on” button is depressed and light is lit
Pop the hood
is the ac compressor clutch engaged?
It appears to be engaged. I did just notice the antifreeze in the reservoir is low, but it hasn’t been overheating. Could that cause the issue?
Check the level of the coolant in the radiator if you can figure out how to do it. Sometimes there can be coolant visible remaining in the plastic bottle but very little coolant in the actual radiator. I don’t think this is likely to be what is causing your AC problem, but something necessary to do when there’s a question about the coolant level.
If it cooled fine before, then stopped working immediately after that downpour I’d suspect as a first guess water got on the compressor drive belt and it started to slip, wore out from the heat, and is now still slipping.
I suppose your coolant fans are spinning when the a/c is on?
I agree, check fan operation. Next check the temperature of the large A/C line at the firewall, it should be cold.
If your system is blowing hot air (140F) the blend air door is malfunctioning. If your system is blowing neutral air (100F) the A/C system is inoperative.
If the belt is slipping you wouldn’t be driving the car, you need the belt for the power steering and alternator. Also the smoke from the slipping belt would be disturbing.
I had all of the pulleys and belts replaced in May when I took the car to
have the alternator replaced. Of course, my AC started acting up the in the
fact that I had a weird smell coming from the AC anytime I ran it. I asked
about a freon leak them and the dealership said absolutely not possible,
that they didn’t smell anything and that it was in my head. After much
arguing they then suggested it might be coming from the evaporator and I
could use something called Frigi-clean to fix the odor (that "didn’t"
exist).
Not sure if it’s relevant but I figure more information is better than
none!
I check on it more tonight.
The cooling fans are not spinning at all.
that’s your problem !!! The cooling fans must be on in order to dissipate the heat away from the condenser. If you have a multimeter you can quickly check for continuity. Unplug the connectors and measure at the fan connector. If there is no continuity the fan motor is bad and needs to be replaced.
The radiator fan won’t turn on if the compressor isn’t on or the engine isn’t hot enough to require cooling. Does the fan cycle on and off when the engine is hot?
A scan tool will show you the pressure in the system, the inputs to the PCM to request the compressor to be switched on and if the compressor is switched on.
[quote=“Gears_and_Grease, post:3, topic:94365, full:true”]
It appears to be engaged.[/quote]Are you absolutely sure? No offense intended, but a lot of people don’t know what to look for.
PO said the clutch is engaged. Clutch wouldn’t engage if the high or low pressure is off. I think, but not sure, this thing has two fans, one for the radiator and another for the condenser.
The Doge Caliper uses a variable displacement compressor with a direct drive hub, no clutch.
As with most Chrysler vehicles, if there are two fans they are operated together, there is no separate radiator/condenser fan.