AC Compressor won't engage during recharge?
Thread Starter
Joined: Apr 2008
Posts: 15
AC Compressor won't engage during recharge?
Hi all,
Haven't been on this forum in forever. But I return with a question and hope you guys can help me out.
For the past few months, my AC has been blowing lukewarm/neutral temperature air, even when set at the coldest setting, and max AC on. I picked up a cannister of r134a refrigerant to recharge the system. Found the low pressure valve, and saw a 0 psi reading. I proceeded to try to recharge it with the engine on and max AC.. The gauge would go up a bit while holding the button down, but even after a good while of refilling and releasing, it'd go back down to 0 psi. Ended up using most of that cannister, and saw no change in the AC. I then saw that the AC compressor was not engaging at all to begin with, (didnt hear the sound when turning the AC on and no clutch spinning).
I've been hearing that in order to properly recharge your AC the compressor needs to be engaged, but I've also heard that if you have a low level the compressor should begin to engage after a certain amount of refill with refrigerant.-- That didn't happen after quite a bit of refilling.
Question is, where do I go from here, since the compressor isn't engaging at all, which seems to be the main issue here. And also, since it wasn't engaging, was that causing the 0 psi reading and thus caused me to overcharge/fill AC with new refrigerant? Just want to see what the next step would be here.
Thanks in advance.
---
2012 Ford Mustang 3.7L
Bone Stock
Haven't been on this forum in forever. But I return with a question and hope you guys can help me out.
For the past few months, my AC has been blowing lukewarm/neutral temperature air, even when set at the coldest setting, and max AC on. I picked up a cannister of r134a refrigerant to recharge the system. Found the low pressure valve, and saw a 0 psi reading. I proceeded to try to recharge it with the engine on and max AC.. The gauge would go up a bit while holding the button down, but even after a good while of refilling and releasing, it'd go back down to 0 psi. Ended up using most of that cannister, and saw no change in the AC. I then saw that the AC compressor was not engaging at all to begin with, (didnt hear the sound when turning the AC on and no clutch spinning).
I've been hearing that in order to properly recharge your AC the compressor needs to be engaged, but I've also heard that if you have a low level the compressor should begin to engage after a certain amount of refill with refrigerant.-- That didn't happen after quite a bit of refilling.
Question is, where do I go from here, since the compressor isn't engaging at all, which seems to be the main issue here. And also, since it wasn't engaging, was that causing the 0 psi reading and thus caused me to overcharge/fill AC with new refrigerant? Just want to see what the next step would be here.
Thanks in advance.
---
2012 Ford Mustang 3.7L
Bone Stock
5th Gear Member
Joined: Mar 2008
Posts: 2,260
From: wisconsin
if u had 0 psi when u started your system was empty, you added 1 can of r134a, that is not enough to fully recharge, to top it off if your system has a large enough leak the stuff u added most likely went straight to the atmosphere. the compressor will only run if the pressure is adequate to prevent damage to the compressor. my advise is to take it in and have a professional fix it, they have the equipment to pull the system into a vacuum as it should be when charging, then they can add a test charge and look for leaks
3rd Gear Member
Joined: Apr 2010
Posts: 602
From: Ft. Worth Tx
jwog made a good point. it could also come down to a fuse issue or something similar and the ac clutch hasn't been working for a while. I see you have a 12' so I think its a bit different from my 05'. you can always pull the plug on the compressor and use a DMM to check for voltage at the plug (with system on in car) and go from there. and also hope you didn't just overcharge your system. good luck
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