No, the EAS is fine, now it's the AC

1421 Views 7 Replies 5 Participants Last post by flamecycle, Sep 25, 2009

flamecycle

Discussion Starter · Jul 24, 2009

Just a few seals here and there, and a quick reset with one of Storey's cables, and the air bags are inflating like they should.

Now it's the A/C. I'm finding that it quits working when the temperature gets above about 90 degress f. or so. It sounds a lot like the three way switch adventures listed here http://rangerovers.net/newrremedies.htm#airconditioning on the common fixes page. When the temperature is lower, the A/C runs like a champ for hours on end. I've had it recharged, pollen filters are cleaned (although my new ones are on order since I'm due for my annual filter swap).

Has anyone had similar symptoms caused by anything BESIDES the 3-way switch? And when I go to swap this thing, I'm suspecting the system will need to be evacuated, right? Shop manuals are not exactly clear on this point.

thanks!!!

Save

1 - 4 of 8 Posts

flamecycle

Discussion Starter · #4 · Jul 25, 2009

Good suggestions. I did, however, watch while the local oil change place evacuated and recharged the system with their big fancy automated tool, so I'm confident the charge is correct. I'm pretty sure it's switch related as when the compressor is actually engaged, the air is cold. So either there's a switch out of whack, or some other input into the equation is out of spec so the compressor is not even being energized.

I'm currently following up on the fact that I don't see the condensor fans running. It's a switch somewhere. Now I just wish I had more that 3 minutes to look at the thing...

Save

flamecycle

Discussion Starter · #5 · Jul 25, 2009

oh, and by the way, the pressure switches do indeed require evacuation of the refrigerant. Makes sense, because I couldn't imagine how a switch could detect the refrigerant pressure without actually contacting it, but since I'm not an AC expert, I'm just checking my assumptions.

Save

flamecycle

Discussion Starter · #8 · Sep 25, 2009

Just to tie up this thread and leave some value in it in the archives....

Once I finally broke down and took it to my indie, the thing we found was that the pressures in the system were off. The high side was low, and the low side was high. So even though the AC was working like a champ WHEN it was working, once the ambient temperature passed 92 degrees, something got far enough out of whack that the compressor would turn off. But it took us forever to pinpoint it to the compressor because it hasn't been that warm of a summer this year, so the problem had to get worse before it got better. And I don't know about you guys, but for me, leather seats are great until the A/C quits on a 95 f. day. :shock:

After the first trip when they did initial diagnosis, checking all the basics (like is there really refrigerant in the system? Yes. It was off by only 1/4 oz). They did change the 3-way switch like I asked. But it was 3 weeks before it was warm enough to happen again. We drove 6 hours to visit family, went 4x4 a whole day, and made it 5 1/2 hours back before it acted up again.

But finally it began happening as low as 70 degrees, and the shop was able to see it happen, and unfortunately determined the right part to be the compressor. So far so good, been cool ever since.

See less See more

Save

1 - 4 of 8 Posts

This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.

Top Contributors this Month