After years of avoiding those EZ-Chill cans on the shelf of Wal-mart, I finally grabbed one on impulse.

My last car didn't have A/C and I lived with it (without may be more apt.) Since I got this car, the A/C does not blow any cold air, and when I press the snowflake button it just blinks. I decided I wanted to try and have A/C this go around.

I followed the instructions on the can. I hooked up the hose and gauge to the low pressure side. The reading was 0 PSI. I started the car, turned the A/C on, and started pumping this bottle. I got the PSI up to 35, which is in the the "Blue" or cool zone the can recommends.

Still blows hot air.

I turned the car off. The gauge shoots up to 110 PSI with the car off, and the compressor disengaged.

Two things I have noticed.

1. The snowflake stays solid now.
2. When the compressor is engaged there is this constant "breathy" sound, sort of like a low pitched hiss, maybe the best approximation would be a continuous exhalation by Darth Vader.
3. It's been 3 days, the car hasn't lost any PSI yet and still does the breathy noise.


I'll admit, I am completely ignorant on the subject of A/C's beyond their basic functions. Here are some other thoughts and questions, that some may be inclined to answer or comment upon but which also reveal aforementioned knowledge deficiency:

1. Should I have evacuated the system prior to charging it to eliminate atmospheric air and moisture?
2. Can I buy a cheap vacuum pump at harbor freight to address said issue?
3. What about compressor oil, the can I bought claimed to have some in it, is it common for the compressor to be oiled by a suspension in the refrigerant?
4. If I am supposed to oil the compressor in another manner than with an EZ chill can, is there an orifice on the compressor I can access?
5. If I evacuate the system with a vacuum pump, will I deplete the compressor oil?



Regards in advance to anyone willing or able to answer my concerns.

 

With all due respect, before you do something that will cost you a bunch more, I would bring it to a respected A/C shop. They can evacuate it and charge it with the right amount, and be sure the dryer and the oil is OK. Clearly since there is pressure, your compressor and clutch are fine.

Have you changed your Cabin Air Filter lately. A LOT of folks go after A/C issues with cans of refrigerant when all they needed was to replace a clogged filter.

///Rich

 

+1
Since you already said you don't have a clue....get some help BEFORE you destroy some thing $$$$.

 

I'm ditto'ing the call for a competent shop to have a look...otherwise you may end with a long saga of "try this" parts replacements.

If the compressor is "compressing" and the refrigerant isn't leaking, those are good signs. What might be next is examining the expansion valve and/or it's control signals (i.e. it is, or is not, receiving a signal to open [to provide expansion]). These can fail in closed state (or the electric or vacuum source to open it has failed...not sure which is used on a Gen1 MINI) so there's no cooling even though your compressor is working aok.

There's a lot to this; as others have pointed out, it gets expensive when fooled with unknowingly and something like a compressor gets ruined.

(No special expertise here, just from being a parts guy for a while, having some A/C 101 knowledge, and experiencing expansion valve remedies on two prior autos).

 

I agree with y'all that I should have a professional look at it. I just wanted to bounce my experience off the community to see if my description of the problem pointed to an obvious culprit.

On a side note, I am accustomed to costing myself more in efforts to save money. It's sort of like a gambling habit, it pays dividends now and then but also gets me into trouble. With this gamble I avoided those cans for nearly 4 years, because I didn't want to shell out $30... the skin flint in me is a personality defect.

Despite all of this, I do love to learn as much as I can. In this instance the expansion valve sounds like a promising lead. I'd like to investigate that a bit. There's no cash in the budget to get a professional involved this summer, but I am fully aware that my tinkering could blow any hope of a budget next summer... I am so used to having no A/C that I sort of feel like I have nothing to lose.

 

Could be that your compressor is dead. I played the same 'maybe it needs more R134a' game, to no avail.
Check to see if your low speed fan is working. In some cases the low speed fan resistor dies, and the compressor overheats because the fan isn't blowing air (the low speed fan turns on with the AC, assuming the compressor is good.)
I ended up with a reman compressor from ebay and had a pro drain and fill the system after I replaced the compressor. Got out for ~$400 IIRC.

 

I can't attest whether or not my compressor is "good", but it is evident that it is at least turning on. The pressure gauge drops when it engages, and there is that rhythmic "wwrun wwrun wwrun" sound, and the engine labors a bit more.

I can check to see if the low speed fan is working though. Is that just a low speed setting on the radiator fan? Do I just confirm that the fan is spinning? Or is there another fan in another location?

Thanks for your reply

 

From an old post:

"Per the Bentley manual, and confirmed by my ScanGauge, the fan operates at low speed at 221F, and turns off at 214F. The fan switches to high speed at 234F and remains on high until the coolant temps drops by 7F. Supposedly it also turns on when the AC is on and the AC system pressure reaches 8 bar (114psi)

If the fan turns on shortly after starting the car (w/AC on) that's likely low speed. As Rich said, the high speed makes a good bit of noise. (And it takes my car a while - in cool Santa Cruz - to reach the fan activation speeds while sitting in the driveway.) Your can't tell actual coolant temp by the gauge - it's more like a dummy light.

My new fan's low speed doesn't go on with the AC, making me think the issue is the compressor not producing the 114psi required. If your fan is turning on, that says that you've got the 114psi compression."

My pressure would change when starting the car/AC as well (that tells you the AC clutch is functioning), but a new compressor is what it took to get cold AC. With the dead compressor I got a wheezing sound from the vents when AC was on. That went away with the new compressor.

 

One word of wisdom....
A car with a working ac sells for more $$$.
I bet if the repair was as simple as a refill, it was tried before it was put up for sale.....
At some point it was decided it was cheaper to sell as is unfixed....