The a/c in my 1998 Chrysler Concord LX blows cold in the morning and hot in the afternoon sometimes. Other times it works all day. This has been going on for three summers. My mechanic has not been able to find the problem, mainly because when I bring the car in it starts working fine. Anyone else had this problem and fixed it? The car has 160,000 miles and I like it and don’t want to get rid of it.
Thanks for the help.
Take it to a shop that specializes in automotive AC.
I’m going to take a wild a@@ guess and say the clutch cycling switch may be defective. This is usually in one of the lines near the condenser—on my 94’ it’s at the bottom. This part can be replaced (at least on mine) without discharging the system—it screws in to what looks like a Schrader fitting—like a tire valve. Have your mechanic try jumpering the switch when it quits and see if the compressor starts back up. My car was behaving like yours several years ago and this was the culprit.
But I have to agree, a SKILLED a/c shop ought to be able to figure this one out pretty quick.
This could be anything. It could even be electrical.
If your mechanic is a certified A/C technician, take the car back to him. If he isn’t an A/C tech, take it to one. Leave the car with the technician and ask her or him to drive it home for a few days until the symptoms reoccur. In the meantime, find another way to get to work. See if you can carpool with a friend for a week or look into renting an economy car cheaply, or use public transportation. Do whatever it takes to give your technician the opportunity to find what is wrong, even if the problem isn’t easy to diagnose.