Air Conditioning not working properly

BARTMAN1962

MEMBER
1981 CHEVROLET EL CAMINO
5.7L
10,000 MILES

Just bought this car and decided to rebuild the A/C system.

Installed new compressor (Daden 9285), orifice tube and accumulator/dryer. Flushed Evaporator, Condenser and all hoses and O-rings.

Vacuumed for 1 hour and charged with 2 lbs R134a Freon.

The Problem.

The low and high side pressure gauge readings are always the same. I get the low side from the port on the accumulator and the high side from the discharge line from the compressor. The system will not cool and when running the engine, the pressures do not change. I have bypassed the pressure switch and the compressor clutch is engaged but the low side pressure never comes down and the high side never goes up.

I know this sounds like a bad compressor and I guess it could be but the old one did the same thing, and the compressor is new.

I also installed a new orifice tube made for high temperature areas like Texas and I've never tried one of these before.

Thanks,

Bart

4 Replies

JACOBANDNICKOLAS

MECHANIC
109,867 POSTS

Bart, is the compressor engaging and still no change in pressure? Is there any change? When the clutch engages, is it actually turning the compressor? I realize the compressor has been replaced. Is it remanufactured? The only thing, other than a bad compressor, leaves a bad coil or the air gap between the clutch plate and the A/C pulley is too large not completely engaging the compressor.

Take a look through this link and let me know if anything helps:

https://www.2carpros.com/articles/car-air-conditioner-not-working-or-is-weak

I will watch for your reply.

Joe

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Sunday, March 13th, 2022 AT 6:08 PM

BARTMAN1962

MEMBER
3 POSTS

Hey Joe,

First off thanks for the help!

The compressor is new, the center is turning, and the body gets really hot. The gauges do not move at all. This is a weird one for sure and I would say it's a bad compressor, but the original did the exact same thing. I turned the old compressor on the bench and got pressure on the supply port (not sure if that means anything) but you would think the low and high side pressures would change somewhat.

The condenser seemed to flush okay. Wouldn't it have to be clogged up completely to cause this problem?

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Monday, March 14th, 2022 AT 4:58 AM

BARTMAN1962

MEMBER
3 POSTS

Hey Joe,

Not sure what happened but went out this morning and it's working fine. Guess I froze something up is the only thing I can think of. Thanks again!

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Monday, March 14th, 2022 AT 9:27 AM

JACOBANDNICKOLAS

MECHANIC
109,867 POSTS

Hi,

That's interesting. Something may have been frozen, but that shouldn't have prevented pressure issues. Instead, I would think the high side would have been much higher than expected causing the pressure switch to turn it off.

For there to have been no pressure change, it's almost as if the clutch was engaging but not turning the compressor.

Regardless, it's good to hear it's working. If anything changes, let me know. Also, please feel free to come back anytime in the future if you have questions. You're always welcome here.

Take care,

Joe

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Monday, March 14th, 2022 AT 6:05 PM