A/C not kicking on

[98hoe]

So I went to auto zone and bought a recharge kit. The guy came out with me to help refill the freon. It had no pressure in it at all. So we put some freon in it and still no cold air. He tried to jump start the compressor to kick it on. Still nothing. I thought of just buying a new compressor but if I don't need to I would like to avoid it. Plus if there is a leak I would just be a waste of money. If ya'll have any suggestions or stories of past experiances please feel free to post. It's hot here and my girl is cranky in the heat!!! Please help! P

 

[GMCYukalade]

W/ tahoe running, did you fill the low pressure side up to 45psi? if so and the compressor still didn't kick on, and you tried jumping the sensors, than its either A: an electrical problem, or B: a dead something..

 

[98hoe]

I also read the if there was no pressure that I would have to vaccume/purge the system before filling with freon. IDK

 

[Hardwarz]

I also read the if there was no pressure that I would have to vaccume/purge the system before filling with freon. IDK

Yes, that is important!

If you have zero pressure, then most probably, everything has leaked out. If everything has leaked out, you need to find out if you have a leak.

To find out if you have a leak, put the system into a vacuum. Leave it for several minutes. If it maintains a vacuum, then you can refill the R134a. If the system has a leak, you need to find and fix the leak. If you open the system to fix a leak, you'll need to replace the air dryer also.

Hardwarz

 

[Sejo]

Where can I find one of these vacuum tools? Does Autozone loan these out?

I'm having the same problem with my A/C system. The Compressor will not kick on and when I went to refill it with freon (using an Autozone kit) it noticed that it was empty. I refilled it, OR think I refilled it and still nothing. I'd like to do the vacuum check myself if possible.

Is there a way to test the compressor so see if it's still any good, electrically and/or mechanically.

 

[98hoe]

They can test it with this probe that sences the leak. They put some freon in and once the probe got kinda close to the compressor it was going off like crazy. I don't think you can test it yourself. I mean you probally can but the equipment they used was this big ass machine rolled around on wheels. I think you will better off haveing a shop look at it. IMO It would prob. cost more to buy the equipment to check/vacumm than replacing your whole system.


Mine was leaking straight from the compressor. 350 for labor, oil, freon. 250 for new compressor, dryer, orafice tude. It would be useless to buy the compresor and not the dryer. Even when you buy all new parts the system still needs to be purged/vacummed. Well worth the money though. It was 94 degrees today and I was chillin!!!

 

[Hardwarz]

Where can I find one of these vacuum tools? Does Autozone loan these out?

Autozone doesn't have these to loan out. I got my vacuum pump at a pawn shop. I've actually seen several of these over the years. If you get one, make sure it's for R134a, not R12. They are different fittings. If it is for R12, you can sometimes find an adapter to go to the R134a fitting.

I got my AC gauge set from Harbor Freight.
http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/Displayitem.taf?itemnumber=92649

Um...wow... it looks like Harbor Freight now sells AC vacuum pumps
http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/Displayitem.taf?itemnumber=98074
http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/Displayitem.taf?itemnumber=98076

Hardwarz