A/C not very cool...help!

[LaMonte Monnell]

O n my 2001 Contessa I have a a/c issue. It is not cooling very well. It was serviced a year and 1/2 ago and it was fine. Now its barely cool.

I have been searching for the service ports but havent located them yet this am. I know some are under the front cap, some are at the compressor and some are on the lines coming out of the engine bay area under the coach.

Can you visually see leaks or do you have to use the dye and light method?

Also wwould the condensor fan under the front cap turn on if freon is low? What temp does the fan come on at?

  I ran the coach this am for about twenty minutes with a/c on high and fan didn't come on!

Would it make sense to locate the service port and add a can and see if it cools better or just take it to the shop?

Last year they found a small leak at a fitting but that was it.....

thanks for any help!

[Les Brandt]

Sometimes it can be the dash temperature control module, but typically it's a leak and your refrigerant.

[Edward Buker]

LaMonte,

The fans come on with a pressure sensor or when the compressor comes on depending on how it is wired. My guess is that your fans have a pressure sensor that turns them on at around 200 psi. To save the compressor there is also a low limit pressure that must be met for the compressor to come on at all. There must be enough refrigerant to carry the lubricating oil so the compressor is not at risk which is the reason for the low pressure sensor. The long and short of this is the refrigerant is most likely low not allowing the compressor to come on.

If you are not overly familiar with the procedure of adding refrigerant you may want to get some professional help or someone who has added refrigerant before. You will have to locate the low side port to do this. If the pressure is very low or nil you are likely to have a leak that will not allow the system to go very long without leaking out again and that needs to be corrected or you are wasting your money. The start of the next step is to get some gauges on your system to see where your starting pressure is. As a reference at 75 degrees F without the system being run the high and low side static pressure would be 78lbs at a full charge level.

Later Ed

[LaMonte Monnell]

Thanks to all for the advice! I haven't even found the low and high ports yet!

 looked at all the lines under the front cap today and all looks great, but didnt see any visible leaks or the fittings anywhere.

Tomorrow I am going to check out the compressor and lines there to see if low and high ports are there.......

Go from there I guess.....CAT service is just around the corner from my s&b about 10 minutes away and they said they will handle it if I want to take it in!

Just had a $849 bill at Allince Thursday I paid after GS paid there portion.....

[Steve Huber Co-Admin]

Lamonte,
I've got a bad case of CRS but seem to remember the ports on my 01 Contessa were accessed through a wheel well from underneath.
Steve

[LaMonte Monnell]

Thanks, Steve!  I`ll check it out!