[Jbauer]

Well the air in my 1998 Jeep 5.9 has really got me confused. I have brought it in twice thinking that the system will work better. I have run the air and anytime the temperature outside gets to 90 degrees it struggles to keep me cool. It seems to take easily 15 minutes of driving before the air is running cold. It does get cold but I would think that it would be sooner then that. I have a 2000 Impala and just after 3 minutes I need to turn it down. I know that the cars air may be more efficent because its newer but does anyone know why the air takes so long to produce cold air?

[ta2oodfreak]

have you had the system checked to see how much refridgerant is in the system? a low charge can cause issues like this as well as restricted airflow through the condenser.

[lma1973]

Mine does the same thing. I put new refrigerant in last year and the pressure guage said it was already fairly high but i put some in anyway. It gets cool but like yours, it takes a good 15 minutes in high (95+) degree heat.

[NoreasterPlus2]

I'm buying a 98 Gc, and it has AC issues as well. The current/previous owner said a mech told him that it may be a leak? How can I check it?

When I tested it, I don't recall hearing the compressor clutch kick on, as in my previous 93GC.

Should I try the "trick the LPS" Then see if I can get the compressor to cycle on?

Ideas?

Thanks

[Jbauer]

I have had it checked and everything checks out okay, according to this mechanic. I am debating on bringing it in to somebody else, as I don't know many mechanics I can trust. My first mechanic said that he let the vehicle sitting in the sun and ran the air conditioner, and temperatures coming out of the vents was low 40's. He said this was good, I just don't think the air is running up to par. I guess I will have to bring it in and see about the clog (maybe) in the condenser line.

[Jbauer]

How do you check for restricted air flow through the condenser?

[FPKites]

You don't really check for it, you just clean the bug boogers out of it. Spray from behind with a hose, or even super high pressure air. Get the foreign matter from between the fins.

[alivenkickin28]

someone else told me that it could be hte expansion valve in the liquid line ....mine is doing this

[texster68]

Originally Posted by Jbauer

Well the air in my 1998 Jeep 5.9 has really got me confused. I have brought it in twice thinking that the system will work better. I have run the air and anytime the temperature outside gets to 90 degrees it struggles to keep me cool. It seems to take easily 15 minutes of driving before the air is running cold. It does get cold but I would think that it would be sooner then that. I have a 2000 Impala and just after 3 minutes I need to turn it down. I know that the cars air may be more efficent because its newer but does anyone know why the air takes so long to produce cold air?

One possible cause for this is a broken re-circ door. The door hangs down from an axle above the door, like a swing set. When the door breaks, it hangs in a position where neither the external intake vent or the internal intake are closed. With both open, it's like having a window rolled down all the time.

Try turning the AC on with the fan on the highest possible setting. With re-circ off, you should be able to hear/feel air being pulled in through the outside vents between the hood and windshield. When re-circ is on, there should be no air flow. Check "heatertreater" on Ebay for more diagnostic information and a cheap fix.

Texster68

[NoreasterPlus2]

I finally bought my 98 GC. I bought one of those recharge "kits" from Pepboys. Opened up the windows (yes -I sometimes do follow the directions..haha), turned on the AC,
put the gauge on the low end "valve". It read nothing, so I started to add -then the level/meter went up to about 45psi. At that point the compressor kicked on and the readout dropped to around 5psi (low end of the green zone). Then again up to 45psi, compressor cycled on, and back down again. Compressor did it's cycle thing a few more times.

Any ideas?

[RyanZJ]

You'll get pressure fluctuations as the compressor is cycling on and off. It will stop cycling so often as the pressure in the system increases.

[indept]

Sounds like you're real low on freon. I would expect low side pressure to be around 35 - 45 with outside temps in the 90's and high side around 250. Get a set of gauges. you can find them for around 30 - 40 bucks at harborfreight.com. If you're dropping to 5psi when the compressor kicks on you need to add more freon. You're safest if you know what the high side pressure is doing though. If there is a blockage in the system the high side could be going dangerously high while the low side is sucking down.