cintrav

I posted in a previous thread about trying to find the orifice tube on a 99 cherokee (4.0L). based on you guys' suggestion, i replaced the fixed orifice tube line, installed a new accumulator, flushed out all the lines, instead new oil in the system, and all new o-rings. it holds vacuum for over 20 mins, no leaks. upon it being filled up to capacity, the compressor only wants to cycle every once in awhile and once it does, its only for a few seconds. i removed the plug from the pressure switch on the accumulator and jumped the pins to keep it engaged. when i do that, the low side drops to almost nothing and the high side pegs to almost 400. i have done some ac work on my other cars, i have never had such an ongoing issue as im having with this truck. the only 2 things i can think of that can be causing this that the orifice tube line i got is defective, or the compressor is actually bad. any thoughts from the ac pros here?

01 Cherokee Limited

Ok, it sounds like you have a restriction somewhere. Was the compressor replaced? How did the old orifice look? Was it full of metal shavings? Also, can you tell if the line the orifice is in gets hot just till the orifice, or is it already cold, possibly indicating the restriction in the condenser? I know its a lot to ask, but A/C is a fickle beast. I used to work on vehicles for a living, and I saw all kinds of funky stuff going on with A/C. The worst part is these are just the few questions that come first to my mind. Good luck!

Bustedknuckle

How did you suck the system down and re-charge it?

cintrav

the orifice tube is built into the hard line, it cant be seen. i replaced it with a new one. the accumulator is new as well. the compressor is original. as far as pulling the vacuum and recharging it, i hooked up my gauges to the vacuum pump for about 45 mins or so til it was -30 for over 30 mins, the high side went below 0 as well. then i let it sit for 30 mins to see if the vacuum would hold and it does, indicating no leaks. then i put a can of r134a on the the hose, purged the line and proceeded to fill it slowly through the low side port, when that can was done, i installed a second can and purged the charge line and then proceeded and continued to fill. i approximated the charge based on the weight of the freon. i found the TSB involving the low pressure switch being off on its calibration, which ill replace soon anyway.

cintrav

i didnt feel the orifice tube line for a temp reading, i guess i can do that. i did feel the charge line coming off the compressor, it gets really warm but not hot enough to burn my hand or anything like that