yr 2003.
I am having AC issues. late last summer, the AC stopped blowing cold air. This year, I filled it with refrigerant & 1 tall can just got it into the green. It ran pretty good for 10 days, then stopped completly, then 10 days later it started blowing cold again. Now it seems to blow cold on cooler days, but hot air at 85+ degrees. Another issue is the blower fan does not blow like it should and the max setting does not work at all. The car is not worth putting a lot on money into, but it would be nice to have AC. I know that there could be several issues causing this, but any suggestions on cheap fixes that I can start looking into?
Every “mechanic” I have taken it to says it is something different. Anything from bubble in the refrigerant line to compressor. Our local mechanics basically just change parts to see if that fixes things and if not charge you again for something else.
Take it to a dedicated auto air conditioning shop. You’ve been to the general practitioners, it’s time to see a specialist.
Make sure the condenser isn’t restricted with debris.
For the no high speed fan, the blower relay may be bad.
The blower relay sends voltage thru the resistors for all the low speeds.
And sends voltage directly to the blower motor for the high speed.
Tester
being its happening sometimes and not others it could be a faulty blend door actuator. sometimes the door opens and sometimes it stays shut. just a thought. also it can be Your car’s climate control not working correctly.
The car is going on near 20 years old and obviously has a leak (or more than one) since you state that you added a “tall can” of refrigerant. I take that to mean 18 to 36 ounces.
The car needs to be leak checked. Otherwise, adding more refrigerant is a waste of time and money. The usual suspects are compressor shaft seals and service ports but could involve other items also.
When it is supposed to be giving you cold air, but isn’t, is the compressor engaged? Are the fans which dissipate heat from the condenser spinning?