i-40 thru cal,az... found out a/c didnt work!

[marcel27208]

i knew my a/c wasnt working that good but thats a rough way to find out it REALLY doesnt work. I got home to NC and put 1 can of r134a in and it still doesnt get cold, ive check all i know to check, checkd the relay(fuse) its still good. Checked the a/c compressor and its ok, i got a tip from a friend.... turn air on and open hood, the line that i put the r143a in should be very cold,,, but it wasnt, it wasnt hot but it definitely wasnt cold. Any of you do it yourselfers know what to do to maybe help me??? thanks...

... maybe i didnt put enough refrigerant in? i put 1 small can that you buy from the truck stop, and ive never had a/c serviced at least since early 04 when i purchased truck...thanks

Lift up the hood, run the engine with the A/C on and watch the compressor on the engine. The belt always turns but there is a clutch that kicks in and you should see the inside of the compressor start to turn.

You can also buy a bottle of refrigerant at Walmart that comes with a gauge so you can check if it's even close to being charged enough. If there isn't enough refrigerant the compressor will not turn on. It comes with instructions .
Check the fuse.

[yoopr]

Don't know of any worse spots to not have A/C in the U.S.
You can get a repair in Williams, Kingman, or Barstow though.

[marcel27208]

Don't know of any worse spots to not have A/C in the U.S.
You can get a repair in Williams, Kingman, or Barstow though.

yea ur right, so hot i cant even roll my passenger side window cuz if i do it will just be steaming hot air blowing in!!! so i just kept driver side down

[marcel27208]

Lift up the hood, run the engine with the A/C on and watch the compressor on the engine. The belt always turns but there is a clutch that kicks in and you should see the inside of the compressor start to turn.

You can also buy a bottle of refrigerant at Walmart that comes with a gauge so you can check if it's even close to being charged enough. If there isn't enough refrigerant the compressor will not turn on. It comes with instructions .
Check the fuse.

yea i checkd the fuse it fine...... so with engine running and looking at the compressor every so often it kicks in right???? if it doesnt?

[marcel27208]

Lift up the hood, run the engine with the A/C on and watch the compressor on the engine. The belt always turns but there is a clutch that kicks in and you should see the inside of the compressor start to turn.

You can also buy a bottle of refrigerant at Walmart that comes with a gauge so you can check if it's even close to being charged enough. If there isn't enough refrigerant the compressor will not turn on. It comes with instructions .
Check the fuse.

ok steve, the compressor didnt turn on at all.......would u recommend more r143a? like i said i just put 1 lil small can in

[larz0142]

Do you see any oil on any of the fittings? Check for a leak..It should not loose refridge like that.

[marcel27208]

ok i put more in, this time i used a pressure gauge and put enough it til refrigerant level reached the blue on the gauge,(done this with engine running and a/c on full blast) a/c compressor clutch still did not kick in, so is it the clutch or the compressor itself??? are those parts expensive?? thanks!

[boneebone]

Check your A/C condenser too. It is located in front of the radiator. I was in San Atone earlier this year when they had a hot spell, turned on the A/C. Didn't work put a can of R-134 in, was colder, but not cold, turned off the truck and heard a hissing sound coming from the condenser.Blew a leak in one of the tubes. Bought a new one replaced it and charged it myself in a half hour.

If it is the compressor, better to replace the whole thing than to replace the clutch, If the clutch went, the seals and everything else aren't too far behind. Better to do the R&R once than twice down the road. IMO

ok i put more in, this time i used a pressure gauge and put enough it til refrigerant level reached the blue on the gauge,(done this with engine running and a/c on full blast) a/c compressor clutch still did not kick in, so is it the clutch or the compressor itself??? are those parts expensive?? thanks!

I tried to search for a compressor but could only find ones for cars. They seem to run about $235. Give the dealer a call. It still may not be the compressor or clutch. I have a Monroe Muffler shop near me and they will work on my A/C unit if I want. My point is that any small garage should be able to diagnose the problem for you. I can't tell you how to jumper the unit to force it to come on so take it to a small shop and they should be able to tell you.

If it is the compressor you may be able to replace it yourself but you will have to go to a garage to get the unit charged up again. Once you open the system up a vacuum has to be placed on the lines before new refrigerant can be put in. Once again, a small shop can do this much cheaper than the dealer can.

These systems are all the same on cars, trucks and home refrigerators so use your imagination getting help and avoid the dealers.

You may also have a leak in the lines. When the shop recharges your system have them put the die in there also. If your system still seems to leak after you get it fixed wait until dark and buy a cheap black light. Run the A/C and shine the black light all over the A/C parts and lines and any leak will show up BIG TIME. The die they put in reacts with black lights and shows up real easy.

If the leak is in one of the lines you can have once again, any small shop weld the leak shut.

One more thing. Try turning on the defroster in the truck. This also turns on the A/C to remove moisture from the windshield. See if the compressor turns on when you do this. It may give yet another clue to the problem.

[marcel27208]

i turn the a/c on and off and when i do i hear a hissing sound, turned on defroster and compressor still didnt cut on

I would see if a local garage can take a quick look and determine if the compressor is bad. Other than that, you will just be guessing and that could be expensive.

[Popeye]

You could also have a problem with one of the pressure switches. You would need to jump the connector at the pressure switch and see if the compressor kicks in then. I would probably have it checked or check it further yourself before just replacing the compressor. That could be very expensive and still not fix your problem.[/code]

[marcel27208]

yea im gonna take to shop...ill update when i found out whats wrong,, thanks for everyones help!!!

[marcel27208]

ITS HOT!!! aint got it looked at yet

[Popeye]

Its only gonna get hotter, best of luck.

[marcel27208]

Its only gonna get hotter, best of luck.

yeah i had to turn down a load going to southern texas cuz its hot, but i got one going to san antonio(figure) from milwaukee(its COOL up here)

[marcel27208]

ok found out it was the a/c compressor and receiver drier, petro wanted 700-800 dollars to fix and also said could be more cuz doing a/c work is "snowball work" you fix one problem and something else comes up, so i said forget it and went on, ill have to wait to get it fixed whenever i get home i thought that price was redicolous!!!!!


signed----sweating in san antonio

ok found out it was the a/c compressor and receiver drier, petro wanted 700-800 dollars to fix and also said could be more cuz doing a/c work is "snowball work" you fix one problem and something else comes up, so i said forget it and went on, ill have to wait to get it fixed whenever i get home i thought that price was redicolous!!!!!


signed----sweating in san antonio

Hopefully you can buy and replace the parts yourself and then just have it charged by a small garage. Try buying your parts online. Keep us posted as to what it costs and other things involved.

[marcel27208]

i dont know how much the reciever drier costs.....i imagine not more than $100 but ive found a new a/c compressor on ebay for 140$(brand new) freightliners cost......240 something i believe,, it looks kinda simple to install, is something in there pressurized? im worrying about unscrewing something and having something either burn me or give me frostbite