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@*#&#@@?!!^& Air Conditioner!!

Fish'nCarz

NAXJA Forum User
Location
Victor, ID
Hi All!

I'm annoyed with the AC on my 2001.

The whole system is less than a year old now, just had the evaporator, dryer and manifold hoses replaced (along with the heater core) and had the compressor replaced last summer. (It worked until May this year, they ran a pressure test, and then it leaked real good!)

Now I have air, but piss poor air. What is the spec temp that the AC is supposed to run at? How long should it take to hit that number?

The shop (not the dealership) installed 1.25 pounds of R-134A after the replacement of parts. Well, that's what they charged me for. What is the capacity of the system, and does that number have a range within the spec?

Honest to God, man, this thing is really starting to tick me off!
 
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...and contacting the shop that did the work does what?

What kind of a lame-assed idea is that?! :)

Actually, I'm a little pissed with the shop, too. They do good work, and are great guys, but they get crazy busy at times. They had me drop off the XJ Monday morning first thing, said it would take a couple days. I went by Wednesday at 5:30 PM and they hadn't touched it yet! I pointed out to the owner that they hadn't touched it yet. He agreed and said, "We haven't touched it yet." This is the second time they've pulled this horseshit on me this summer, and he knows it. But, he promised to get to it right away Thursday. To atone for their slacking I got nitrogen in the tires and tires rotated, and they used some butyl (their name) sticky weather-stripping like stuff on the mating surfaces of the dash where plastic meets plastic - for the first time ever I don't have rattles in the dash! When they found that the heater core was about to take a dump they only charged me for the HC and they covered labor and new hoses. That part was good, but still, I just picked the Jeep up at noon today!

Okay, back to the issue at hand.

I fianlly found my FSM and went to the HVAC section. There I found under the heading, "Diagnostic and Testing" a section called, "AC Performance." So I sez to myself, "Self, this may have some of the knowledge you seek." And it did.

To run the diagnostic procedure for AC Performance according to the FSM you need your XJ, a tach, a good thermometer (I used a NSF approved Meat Thermometer with the long probe), and AC manifold gauge set. I didn't have the manifold gauge set, but followed the rest of the procedure to see what I might learn. Here it is:



What I found after completing the diagnostic was that my AC was only putting out 63 degree F air. Today in the greater Louisville metropolitan area it was 84 degrees and 54% humidity when I ran the test. Air should have been in the high 30s.

Now, armed with the FSM, my test results, and a decided attitude I went back to the shop. They were surprised to see me so soon, and picked up right away that something might not be right. I didn't even talk to the guys up front but went to the mechanic who did the job (really nice guy, with a new kid and a really sweet Wrangler Sahara he's restoring) and just laid out what was going on, what I did, and what the resulsts were. I'm taking it back up to them on Monday and hanging out in the shop drinking coffee while he looks for leaks or some other explanation. I'm betting that he put too much oil in, or that one of the connections isn't sealed properly, maybe a bad "O" ring or a piece of crud in the way.

I'll let you know how it goes, but they said they'll make it right, can't ask for much more than that.
 
Not having AC right now would frustrate anyone...just went through some troubles myself. I bought one of those 6 buck AC thermometers at Auto Zone and I leave it in the center vent....I find myself looking at it all the time. Might be a good buy for you when you get yours fixed. It gives you a way to constantly monitor if your AC is functioning properly...good luck.
 
Not having AC right now would frustrate anyone...just went through some troubles myself. I bought one of those 6 buck AC thermometers at Auto Zone and I leave it in the center vent....I find myself looking at it all the time. Might be a good buy for you when you get yours fixed. It gives you a way to constantly monitor if your AC is functioning properly...good luck.


Good idea, thanks.
 
Have them evacuate the system and refill it again, only adding a little bit of dye. This will allow them/you to determine where the leak is coming from. There is both the UV kind (needing a black light to see) and non UV kind. The ones i've seen of both are neon green, so you should be able to spot the leak pretty quickly if it's something under the hood.
 
Have them evacuate the system and refill it again, only adding a little bit of dye. This will allow them/you to determine where the leak is coming from. There is both the UV kind (needing a black light to see) and non UV kind. The ones i've seen of both are neon green, so you should be able to spot the leak pretty quickly if it's something under the hood.

They always use that, just as a matter of course. They also have a great sniffer that can smell a dog fart a mile away.

Like I said, they are a good bunch, but they got behind, rushed, and were a little sloppy in performance this time. I hope, for both our sakes, that the leak isn't in the parts under the dash!
 
Update!

Been back twice and they've been throwing parts at it. Today they changed out the compressor just because they hadn't done that yet. Temp dropped, angels sang, etc. Eureka we found it.

Not so much. I took it for a drive and temp wouldn't drop below 62 F. Turned it to heat, and as it was 92 outside, heat worked good! But it made a "Woooshing" noise. Then I turned it back to A/C. It would not go back to cool, so sounds like blend door or vacuum problem, right? Anything else it might be??
 
not sure on the XJs but i know the WJs have horrible problems with the blend doors failing. could be another thing to check :dunno:
 
not sure on the XJs but i know the WJs have horrible problems with the blend doors failing. could be another thing to check :dunno:

They're notorious. Ebay has a guy who sells a repair kit for it machined out of aluminum.
 
The whooshing sound you describe does sound like it could be the blend door (as I hear that sound every time I switch between AC and heat)... But then again, not sure how much of an impact it'd have on AC function considering all air travels through the evaporator before reaching the blend door (and no coolant should be traveling through the heater core unless the temp selector is on anything but full-cold... right?).

One thing I can say, however, is that the blend door actuator is an electric motor on the bottom of the HVAC box (external) in the passenger footwell. Provided the door itself is seated properly, replacing the motor doesn't seem like it'd be a difficult task.

Just realized I'm not sure how the heater on the XJ works. Is it valved, or is engine coolant always flowing through the heater core?
 
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The whooshing sound you describe does sound like it could be the blend door (as I hear that sound every time I switch between AC and heat)... But then again, not sure how much of an impact it'd have on AC function considering all air travels through the evaporator before reaching the blend door (and no coolant should be traveling through the heater core unless the temp selector is on anything but full-cold... right?).

One thing I can say, however, is that the blend door actuator is an electric motor on the bottom of the HVAC box (external) in the passenger footwell. Provided the door itself is seated properly, replacing the motor doesn't seem like it'd be a difficult task.

Just realized I'm not sure how the heater on the XJ works. Is it valved, or is engine coolant always flowing through the heater core?

Anyone? Anyone? Bueller? Bueller? Bueller?
 
From the 2001 FSM:


DESCRIPTION
The heater core is located in the heater-A/C hous-
ing, under the instrument panel. It is a heat
exchanger made of rows of tubes and fins.

OPERATION
Engine coolant is circulated through heater hoses
to the heater core at all times
. As the coolant flows
through the heater core, heat removed from the
engine is transferred to the heater core fins and
tubes. Air directed through the heater core picks up
the heat from the heater core fins. The blend air door
allows control of the heater output air temperature
by controlling how much of the air flowing through
the heater-A/C housing is directed through the
heater core.
The blower motor speed controls the vol-
ume of air flowing through the heater-A/C housing.
The heater core cannot be repaired and, if faulty or
damaged, it must be replaced. Refer to Group 7 -
Cooling System for more information on the engine
cooling system, the engine coolant and the heater
hoses.


Edited for emphasis and paraphrasing: it would seem likely that the blend door is a highly likely culprit for your current issues.
 
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Yep. That's what I told the mechanic when I took it back today.

Sucks when everyone at the shop knows you on sight, and greets you by name!
 
Any updates? Did they get your AC troubles worked out?

My '01's AC has started working poorly the last week or so. Been 100+ Degrees here and a poor AC and business attire is not good.

My AC Compressor will kick on for about 2 seconds... then off for about 4-5 seconds, then repeat continuously while on Max AC. Not sure if that's the way it's suppose to work or not but I'm just now looking for diagnosis checks.
 
Any updates? Did they get your AC troubles worked out?

My '01's AC has started working poorly the last week or so. Been 100+ Degrees here and a poor AC and business attire is not good.

My AC Compressor will kick on for about 2 seconds... then off for about 4-5 seconds, then repeat continuously while on Max AC. Not sure if that's the way it's suppose to work or not but I'm just now looking for diagnosis checks.

Sounds like it's not charged correctly (either under- or over-charged) causing the system to cut on and off. Definitely start with basic high/low side diagnostics with a manifold gauge.
 
I have a set of manifold gauges, I'm just not very knowledgeable about how to use them so I'll have to do some checking (or post a link if u have it). I was thinkg it was maybe low as it had worked great up until about 1-2 weeks back... then I noticed
The AC was blowing warmer & warmer. It's just cool now w doesn't work when it's 102 outside.
 
OK, so I put my AC Manifold Gauges on my 2001 last night. Had 0 psi on the Low Side, had ~ 120 psi on the High Side. No leaks I could see anywhere so I purchased a refill/leak kit and added in about 14 oz... AC blows ICE cold now and the compressor kicked on and stayed on the entire time I had it idling... ~ 10 minutes. Then this morning driving in to work ran the AC a bit too... still ICE cold.

Hopefully this will take care of any AC problems and keep it running nice and ice cold.
 
Redsnake,

Have you had to replace your evaporator core yet? That's the one in the dashboard. Best I can tell, it is common for the factory core to leak. One way to tell if it is leaking (without a fancy sniffer) is to use the UV die refridgerant. Then, after you have run it for a while (one Saturday to the next should do it) look under the hood. Find the drain tube (where the water drips out) and twist the tube to look for the die in the tube. That's how I found my leak.

Using the FSM, it took an evening and the next morning to replace mine. Not too bad, really.

Woxof
 
Redsnake,

Have you had to replace your evaporator core yet? That's the one in the dashboard. Best I can tell, it is common for the factory core to leak. One way to tell if it is leaking (without a fancy sniffer) is to use the UV die refridgerant. Then, after you have run it for a while (one Saturday to the next should do it) look under the hood. Find the drain tube (where the water drips out) and twist the tube to look for the die in the tube. That's how I found my leak.

Using the FSM, it took an evening and the next morning to replace mine. Not too bad, really.

Woxof

I have not, but that's something I hadn't thought about. I'm hopeful it's good to go now, but I can't imagine I'd have lost the coolant if not for a leak somewhere. I'll see what happens in due time.
 
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