Why is my A/C not very cold?

[Saint Nick]

Hi guys. Don't know a whole lot about cars. My car just went into the shop a few weeks ago to get a new clutch and air conditioner compressor (?). He explained the repairs to me but I can't really say exactly what they did. The car was making this terrible high pitched squeaking sound (like metal grinding metal, he said it was some sort of bearing). It's fixed and the car runs super great now, but I feel like my A/C isn't as cold as it used to be.

How can I make my A/C colder? My girlfriend's V6 Mustang has an ice cold air conditioner, but her grandparent's Ford Focus has a crap air conditioner like my Cavalier.

Does a more powerful engine run the air conditioner "better"? Or is my A/C just shot... sorry for the vague post.

 

[LTC8K6]

Probably the throwout bearing on your clutch.

Have your A/C system serviced.

It could be low on refrigerant, or it could be your air blend doors under your dash...or something else.

If it's low and not leaking, you can recharge it yourself with a kit from Wal-mart or an auto parts store.

 

[HybridSquirrel]

If they replaced the compressor, they may have forgotten to recharge the new one. Take it back to them and ask if they recharged it.

 

[CraigRT]

Just gotta go back if the repair was recently done. They should make it right if they are even half assed reputable..

It could just be charge, but a lot of modern A/C systems dont even run if the pressure is too low (or high) so its tough to say.

As part of an A/C compressor replacement, they have to recharge the system. You don't forget to recharge the system, it wouldn't work at all if there was no refrigerant. They obviously had to test it and apparently thought it was cool enough for giving back to you.

 

[crosshairs]

They may have undercharged it...go back and have them verify its charged correctly and the there are no leaks from the recent work .

 

[Zivic]

because it is really f^cking hot out now compared to when you took the car in.

 

[5150MyU]

If you paid to have A/C work done it should be working mint--take it back.

 

[MovingTarget]

Its likely that it wasn't recharged. My cavalier has very cold air conditioning, especially on the recirculate setting. Having a small car is no reason for your ac to suck.

 

[HeXen]

with temps being over 100F here and high humidities, all my A/C's kinda suck atm. in the house, all our cars, our trucks at work. they work just not as cold as normal.

 

[exdeath]

A/C is a sealed system. If it's low, there has to be a leak. It doesn't just magically get low or wear out.

Those self recharge systems that are being pushed all over the place are a scam. Of course they don't want you to fix it, they want you to keep polluting with CFCs and constantly refilling it.

 

[manimal]

Take it back where you had it serviced. Dont put in anything yourself or you will void the shops warranty.

that AC stop leak crap sucks, makes things worse, and will frack up modern AC machines that shops use to diag flush and fill your AC system.


Most good shops will warranty their AC charge after a repair even if it starts leaking somewhere other than where they did the work.
LTC8k6 is probably right about the throwout bearing.

Just today I had someone come in because their condenser had a piece of metal sticking trough it....you never know...


AC systems are being pushed crazy hard in this heat.

 

[MovingTarget]

Take it back where you had it serviced. Dont put in anything yourself or you will void the shops warranty.

that AC stop leak crap sucks, makes things worse, and will frack up modern AC machines that shops use to diag flush and fill your AC system.


Most good shops will warranty their AC charge after a repair even if it starts leaking somewhere other than where they did the work.
LTC8k6 is probably right about the throwout bearing.

Just today I had someone come in because their condenser had a piece of metal sticking trough it....you never know...


AC systems are being pushed crazy hard in this heat.

This. Whatever you do, don't use that stop leak stuff. Take it back to whoever did the work, asap. Using that stuff, even as a stopgap measure, will cost you more in the long run.

 

[5150MyU]

Most good shops will warranty their AC charge after a repair even if it starts leaking somewhere other than where they did the work.
.

That is not true at all. If they replace an "O" ring for a couple hours labor they are not going to eat seven hours labor plus parts when the evap. granades.

 

[Raizinman]

We have been getting some very hot weather across the country. What feels cool or warm to you might be perfectly normal. Instead of using a term like ‘it doesn’t feel cold enough’ tell us what the temperature is as the air comes out? Also tell us what the outside temperature is. You can purchase a vent thermometer at most any auto parts store for about $5.

 

[manimal]

That is not true at all. If they replace an "O" ring for a couple hours labor they are not going to eat seven hours labor plus parts when the evap. granades.

My shop warranties an ac charge if we perform a major repair like a compressor.

90 days. We diag for a reason. The customer will of course pay for the repairs and new parts but I will eat the costs of a recharge.

 

[BUTCH1]

There has to be some freon in there or it wouldn't start at all, a low pressure sensor kills clutch from engaging in this condition. Probably didn't install a new dryer or didn't fully charge it. On small cars, I had a lowly 88HP Escort but the AC ice friggin cold on that car and you could engage the compressor as a sort of E-brake LOL..

 

[soccerballtux]

My shop warranties an ac charge if we perform a major repair like a compressor.

90 days. We diag for a reason. The customer will of course pay for the repairs and new parts but I will eat the costs of a recharge.

what options are there for supercharging an AC system that's not very well tuned? Don't want "new parts that return AC to stock operation" want something significantly better.

 

[SuperSix]

We have been getting some very hot weather across the country. What feels cool or warm to you might be perfectly normal. Instead of using a term like ‘it doesn’t feel cold enough’ tell us what the temperature is as the air comes out? Also tell us what the outside temperature is. You can purchase a vent thermometer at most any auto parts store for about $5.

This. Get a cheap thermometer and see what the outlet temps are.

A/C on high, windows up - ~2k RPM. You should see at least 45 degrees or better (colder)

 

[Raizinman]

what options are there for supercharging an AC system that's not very well tuned? Don't want "new parts that return AC to stock operation" want something significantly better.

This depends. Dealership and repair shops are limited to what they can do. They can normally only add R134a or retrofit to R134a. This can only bring your system back to OEM or slightly less. On the other hand there are numerous options YOU can do yourself. YOU are not limited to using R134a in your car. YOU are not limited to all the EPA rules and regulations. Changing refrigerants can easily bring down your duct temperatures quite a bit.

1) There are numerous refrigerant blends on the market that can be purchased through the Internet that will do better than R134a. Many auto parts stores sell them too.
2) Propane is a great refrigerant better than R134a and requires virtually no modifications. Much cheaper than any other refrigerant.
3) If you have some older R12 laying around, adding some of this will bring the temperatures down even further. This is called Reverse Retrofitting. This actually works great in R134 systems that have a small leak because R12 molecules are larger than R134a and often won't leak in the same hole that R134a leaked from.

If you intend to use any of the above, make sure to search the Internet about adding the proper lubricant oil to the system. Some oils react with different refrigerants. A quick search on the Internet will show you what refrigerant oils work with what refrigerants.

Remember, shops are prohibited from doing any of the above. Likewise, if you do bring your vehicle into a shop for A/C service, best to let them know you changed refrigerant, otherwise, if they don't have a refrigerant identifier tool, you could mess up their refrigerant reclaimer machine.

R134a is being phased out very soon. They will be going to R1234 soon. The phase out will start by eliminating Do-It-Yourselfers cans of R134a from places like Wal-Mart and other stores. Soon R134a will be a difficult to acquire and pricey like R12 now.

 

[soccerballtux]

I'll research propane. Didn't know it was better than r134. Though if going to do propane might as well just reverse-convert to r12.

I was hoping for something more along the lines of tweaking the temperature sensor on the condenser to make it think it's warmer than it actually is so that it cycle more frequently or something....?

 

[Zivic]

I'll research propane. Didn't know it was better than r134. Though if going to do propane might as well just reverse-convert to r12.

I was hoping for something more along the lines of tweaking the temperature sensor on the condenser to make it think it's warmer than it actually is so that it cycle more frequently or something....?

at that point, hard wire the compressor and have it run non stop

 

[Raizinman]

I'll research propane. Didn't know it was better than r134. Though if going to do propane might as well just reverse-convert to r12.

Back many moons ago, when R12 was just starting to go up in price, I bought a pallet of the refrigerant. Yes, I sold some to get my money back, but it has really come in handy in reverse retrofitting an R134 vehicle to R12. You might also look into a product called Duracool, a replacement refrigerant blend much better than R134a and almost as good as R12. Yes, it has propane in it to achieve these results.

 

[manimal]

what options are there for supercharging an AC system that's not very well tuned? Don't want "new parts that return AC to stock operation" want something significantly better.

Raizinman is an AC rainman! Read his post

at that point, hard wire the compressor and have it run non stop

I cant confirm nor deny that I have done this in a pinch.

Back many moons ago, when R12 was just starting to go up in price, I bought a pallet of the refrigerant. Yes, I sold some to get my money back, but it has really come in handy in reverse retrofitting an R134 vehicle to R12. You might also look into a product called Duracool, a replacement refrigerant blend much better than R134a and almost as good as R12. Yes, it has propane in it to achieve these results.

Its definitely worth having some of the old stuff around at home. On a personal level I have never tried propane. At my shop we stay stock for obvious reasons.

 

[Saint Nick]

Hey thanks for all of the replies guys. We took her grandparent's Focus on a long trip to Colorado over the weekend and it turns out that A/C is super ice cold...I think they forgot to charge (or under charged) my A/C o my Cavalier. This sort of sucks because I should have took it back sooner, but oh well.

I remember long ago the recirculate setting used to be "really cold", now I would call it "kind of cold". Pretty vague. I guess it could be relative like a few of you suggested because it has been super hot, but other car air condtioners seem to be doing better than mine.

 

[EagleKeeper]

I just had a recharge done on the Jeep on Saturday. Vent temps started out at 50 and in 10 minutes rose to 55 when they tested it initially.

After the recharge, it was holding 45 steady.

The heat wave had the temps over 100. I had the fan at #3 (less than full speed) because it was uncomfortable on high at 2PM.

It this holds, it is well worth the $150 I was charged.