hedbutter

Here's the details:
2000 XJ Sport with ~61000 miles

Ac worked great in May when I drove it home form NY

Got it inspected, did some body work (Didnt drive much for approx. a month), drove it earlier this month, nothing, blows as warm as the engine. The compressor, however, gets icecold when running. Electric fan kicks on when the AC is turned on, just no cold air. Anyone know of anything that could be a moment before i take it to get checked. I am assuming that the fliud is correct because the compressor gets ice cold when running. Also, the belt moves fine.
Thanks for any help

4.3L XJ

Just sounds like it is low on refrigerant.

hedbutter

oh, ok sweet.. any way to check that or should i just let a shop do it, i can live without the AC.. nice an breezey by lake erie so it isnt too hot yet

Mike1998XJ

I just took mine to a small repair shop and they charged be $111 to evacuate the old refrigerant and oil, flush, vaccume the system and install new refrig. and oil. That even included a new schrader valve because mine started leaking when they refilled.
They have the equipment to do this properly and it's a good idea to go there. You can cause problems if you don't do it correctly...
Mike

hedbutter

Well apparently i cant tell the difference between hot and cold because i bought one of the fill it yourself things from Advanced Auto Parts, and i wanted to see if it would come up full or not when i ran it. So i plugged it on following the directions, came up full, no problem at all. So i stood there puzzled as to wtf was happening. Looked at it some more and realized that the compressor doesnt seem to fully come on except for about once every 10 seconds or so, also, the Elec fan isnt on with the Ac on. Could it be the compressor if F'ed up, causing the fan not to start or am i in for a long day of headaches. Also, with the little meter guy thing attached, it will drop to zero when the compressor pulses, but then raise gradually to around 36ish PSI, when it pulses again and shoots back to zero?

NOTE: I think the compressor only comes on every so often because the bolts on the front of the wheel will only spin every ten seconds or so, but it does spin freely..

ol"blue

If the compressor's cycling on/off you're low on freon.

hedbutter

Oh, ok.. should i try to fill it myself with the kit i have or should i just take it somewhere to be on the safe side?

Here is the kit that i have.

LINK:
http://shop.advanceautoparts.com/web...C|GRP2004A____

jag

You should check it with a gauge

If you don't have a set you could buy a single quick check gauge
It's 12 dollars at autozone.

IMO if it needs to to be charged take it somewhere to get done. Most places will check it for free, but I always like to know whats up before I take it somewhere.

hedbutter

Well i didnt take the advice given, but it has been working great so far with the recharge that came with the gauge in the link above. Thanks for the help. (i only used the self recharge because i already paid for it.. if it dies again im going to take it to a shop)

4.3L XJ

Whoa, guys. Just a minute here before you go and do something you shouldn't do. I'm an old AC guy so let me make a couple of points.

If the compressor cycles on and off, that is normal. The system is not like the one in your house which has a compressor that runs at a constant speed. You have to compensate for different engine speeds, so the compressor cycles. When he said the compressor doesn't come on at all, that is a classic sign of low on refrigerant since there is a low pressure safety switch mounted on the filter drier. If it is too low, it won't let the compressor engage so that it won't be running without lubricant and destroy itself.

The real way to check the charge if you don't have a set of gages is to use the sight glass. It is on top of the filter drier mounted on the passenger side frame rail if you have a 4.0L and if you have a 2.5 or 2.8L it is mounted on the driver side of the radiator. When charging, you look into this little green piece of glass and see if there is bubbles passing by it. If you see a few, then that is what you want. If a lot, it needs refrigerant. If none, it is a little overcharged.

hedbutter

Again, I decided to revive this thread instead of making a new one so here goes.

After not doing anything with it for awhile(the quick fillup idea didnt stick) so i went to a local AC shop, they diagnosed it as a bad Evaporator and quoted me at 900 bucks for the Labor and Part. !#$@ that. So here is my next question.
I am going to replace it myself, however, not until around XMas time when i have enough time to take it apart and do it correctly. So is there anything i should do to keep other things from going bad?
I know i am going to need a new Evap, is there anything else i should be on the lookout for?
I am most likely going to buy it from http://www.moparpartsamerica.com/spl...?siteid=214583 unless somebody has a better site for this type of stuff.
Finanlly, are there any easy fix that could make a false reading for the Evap being bad that i can look for?

I wont get the XJ back until tomorrow, i just had the guy call me if it needed anything other than freon, which it did. I am going to get as many details as i can from him tomorrow and will definately fill in more info.
Also, if there is anyone in the central PA area, that would want to help me put this in earlier, i have a week off from work and school starting august 8th, and if you think you can help me get it done then we can go for it.

Mike1998XJ

Have the guy evacuate the refrigerant out of it and flush the system. Put the evaporator in yourself take it back to him and have him refill it.
You could take a chance on a used evaporator but the do get saturated over time so you would want to have them evacuate it first, install it, then take it back for a flush and a refill.
mike

hedbutter

Hey, thanks for the reply.
He is doing a flush and refill today, to see if it will hold long enough to last the summer, but i'm only going to use it every once in awhile. I am just going to buy a new one for the peace of mind. Thanks again for the info.

4.3L XJ

Don't mess with the used parts Get a new evaporator coil. You don't want to do all that work just to install another leaker.

hedbutter

Yep thats the plan. Anything else that may need to be replaced that i should look into?