2002 A/C not working

[shock003]

My compressor isn't kicking on and blower just blows hot air - is it my relay?
I searched for other topics but none seem to tell me what to look for on a 2002 model. Sport edition (if that matters).

Not exactly sure which relay behind the battery would be the potential culprit.
if that is even the issue. Or if there is a relay hidden somewhere else. I hope it isn't the compressor. The Haynes manual (as expected) is useless.

Any suggestions or guidance? Really rather save a trip to a dealer and big dollar repairs for labor if I can trouble shoot with the help of others.

Thanks!

 

[JRZEE2000TR4LTD]

My compressor isn't kicking on and blower just blows hot air - is it my relay?
I searched for other topics but none seem to tell me what to look for on a 2002 model. Sport edition (if that matters).

Not exactly sure which relay behind the battery would be the potential culprit.
if that is even the issue. Or if there is a relay hidden somewhere else. I hope it isn't the compressor. The Haynes manual (as expected) is useless.

Any suggestions or guidance? Really rather save a trip to a dealer and big dollar repairs for labor if I can trouble shoot with the help of others.

Thanks!

Probably low on refrigerant. You'll need a set of gauges minimum to start a diagnosis. Could get a can of 134 and put it in to see if the compressor comes on.

 

[shock003]

Yea. I bought some 134 and have the gauge but when the compressor didn't kick on I figured something else was wrong. I recharged it a couple years ago. I could have a leak but would the compressor really not turn on if empty? When I recharged it last time compressor was on. Meaning the clutch would kick on. And instructions state that it should kick on.

 

[alumarine]

Compressor won't kick in if pressure is too low.

 

[shock003]

Oh. Cool. Yes, hooking up the refrigerant did get the compressor to kick on. I thought they kicked on regardless. Thanks for the help. I wonder if the do it yourself kits aren't really the best long term. Hence needing a recharge so quickly. Or I have a slow leak. Hmmm

 

[stir_fry_boy]

Oh. Cool. Yes, hooking up the refrigerant did get the compressor to kick on. I thought they kicked on regardless. Thanks for the help. I wonder if the do it yourself kits aren't really the best long term. Hence needing a recharge so quickly. Or I have a slow leak. Hmmm

You have a leak somewhere, add some dye and get a UV light which often come together in a kit. Pay particular attention to the condenser, a rock could have damaged it creating a pin hole leak. I've also seen Schroeder valves leak in Toyota and Honda vehicles.

You need both high and low gauges to see what it's doing. Just the low side gauge only tells half the story. I would add dye, find and fix the leak, vacuum out the system, then add recommended amount of refrigerant in ounces. That is the correct way of doing it.

 

[JohnMc]

Older A/C systems could run the compressor regardless of system pressure because a piston style compressor had the oil sitting in the little 'crankcase'. Modern R134a systems generally use rotary compressors, smaller, more efficient, better, but they require their lubrication to be flowing around the system with the refrigerant. No refrigerant in the system, no oil. And no oil means a seized and ruined compressor in short order.

Adding refrigerant and having it work means (capt. obvious!) that you were too low. My wife's 4Runner had the expansion valve stick shut once. That was confusing to diagnose at first with just a low side gauge. With everything off (and after sitting for a while) the low side gauge would read normal. Turn on the A/C, and the pressure would steadily drop down, down until the compressor shut off, then it would stay that way. No cold air at all. If you turned everything off, the pressure would stay low for a very long time. Took a bit for me to realize the system jsut wasn't flowing - and that the compressor had good enough seals to keep all the R134a pumped into the high half of the system and effectively evacuate the low side, and have it stay that way for a while.