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2003 WRX Good AC Pressure, No Cold Air

904 views 6 replies 3 participants last post by  MainFrame 
#1 ·
I have searched and searched but can not find any info on a similar situation to mine.

AC has not been working since I bought the car about 2 years ago.
Yesterday I replaced my AC o rings and recharged the system. The O rings were not perfect size but matched close. After adding two cans of r134a to the system (Blindly, no gauges) it blew cold and the compressor engaged fine, but shortly one of the o rings leaked.

Today I replaced with factory size o rings, vacuumed the system, it held vacuum fine, and recharged with one and a half 12 oz cans of r134a which took the pressure gauges right to where they should be from my research (25-30 psi low side and 230-240 psi high side)

Perfect pressure values but no cold air today, even though the compressor was working yesterday. I have checked the fuse and relay both and found no issues. The compressor clutch tries to engage every 5-10 seconds but simply catches and immediately releases.

Could it be the expansion valve stuck closed or a pressure sensor issue with my current symptoms? How can I test?

Can anyone recommend next steps for troubleshooting?
 
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#2 ·
Update:

I jumped the AC relay which caused the compressor to kick in and stay on. This worked for about 2 minutes with no cold air (I figured the relay must be bad, and possibly my schrader valve had leaked my fresh charge, I would check the pressures again tomorrow morning). I then removed the jumper. After putting the AC relay back in, now I get a horrible screeching sound from the AC clutch on engagement. I tried again with the jumper, and I get the same response, screeching.

Now I'm thinking possibly the compressor/clutch is bad, along with the relay? Or still possibly another cause?

Any Ideas? I would certainly appreciate any input!
 
#3 ·
I checked the system pressures this morning, everything still seems to be correct pressure wise. The compressor is also no longer making any screeching sound. The compressor still tries to kick in but does not hold.

The compressor is getting power.

My current thoughts are the pressure switch or the expansion valve is stuck closed, but I haven't found information on how to eliminate these as causes.

Please offer any insight that you may have!
 
#4 ·
Just checked again...

While off the system does equalize like I have read it should. I am now showing zero on the low pressure side and 200+ on the high pressure side. I may have leaked a bit of r134a from connecting and disconnecting the gauges. Any clue why the two sides would not equalize? Bad compressor?
 
#5 ·
I just got done vacuuming and recharging the system.

With about 1/2 of the first can (6oz or so) into the system, the compressor clutch actually caught and ran. As I continued to add r134a It stopped shortly after. I thought that once the proper level was reached it would kick back in. It never did. It took a can and 2/3 (Just Guessing) and still would not permanently engage. Checking my gauges afterwards, high side pressure was very high, up to 300psi. I think its obvious that it is overfilled currently, but any idea why the compressor would catch and run with only a half can of refrigerant and then begin to not catch and cycle again once the pressure rose?
 
#7 ·
It's harder for it to turn over when the pressure is up, so likely the clutch is slipping. When it's only half full it's easy enough to turn over that it doesn't cause the clutch to slip. Sounds to me like you need a new clutch and coil.. possibly a new compressor, and you should probably evac the system and replace the drier if it's been left open for long.
 
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