ryce4u

Can anyone tell me if the line coming out of the condenser going into the receiver drier be cold,warm,hot when the AC is running ?

Here's a picture of the line



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McFridgeGuy

I don't have my S2000 yet, but I deal with refrigerant for a living. Leaving the condenser, the smaller high pressure line (liquid) should be warm to the touch. The larger low pressure line leaving the evaporator (coil in the dash) should be cold going to the compressor, from the compressor the line should be hot... Then going to the condenser. Pretty sure the tank is just a drier (filter) tied into the liquid line. It should be warm/ambient going in and leaving. If its cold leaving the drier then the drier would have to be replaced.

ryce4u

my ac compressor has been cycling on and off every 20 second regardless if the outside temp. was hot or cold. It'll blowThe mechanics hooked some gauges to the car and looked at it for a good 45min trying to narrow the problem down. He first thought it was the expansion valve or the sensor probe that sits on the evaptor until he touched the smaller high pressure line going through the drier. it wasn't warm at all. The line from the compressor to the condenser is super hot. The line coming out of the condenser going into the drier (line that is circle) was not warm but it wasn't cold either. The reciever drier was just replaced so that wasn't the problem, he said the condenser probably has a partial blockage causing the compressor to cycle so often. Is that possible ?

Thanks

McFridgeGuy

If he put gauges on it then he should be able to tell what the problem is. If there would be a "blockage" in the condenser, the high pressure switch would open. I'm trying to find a wiring diagram but I'm not having any luck. However a blockage in the condenser sounds like BS to me.. Can't say I've ever seen that before. That's what the drier is for. Sounds like its low on refrigerant. Did he tell you any of the pressures?

ryce4u

He thought it was low on refrigerant too when I took him for a test ride but after putting the gauges on , the refrierant level was fine. Forgot to mention that my compressor locked up last year and I got it fixed ( replaced compressor, drier, and expansion valve ... condenser was not replaced, just flushed out) from a different mechanic and it's been doing that compressor cycle thing ever since I got the AC fixed. The mechanic who fixed my a/c replaced the compressor twice, expansion valve twice, and drier 3 times but still didn't fix the problem. So that's when I decide to take it to this guy who diagnose it with condenser being blocked .

McFridgeGuy

If th condenser is blocked, then you got junk everywhere in your ac system. Sounds like whoever worked on your ac in the past never evacuated it (ran a vacuum pump on it to get rid of all the moisture). Moisture along with hot refrigerant will create sludge. Sounds like the guys looking at it don't know what they are doing. They're running out of pars to change.. A plugged condenser just seems like BS. If you're able to find out what the low/high side pressures are I can give you a good idea what's wrong.

ryce4u

what are signs of a condenser going bad ?

McFridgeGuy

A condenser isn't that different from a radiator. Biggest reason a condenser is bad.. It's leaking refrigerant (which is rare) Second reason would be the it's not rejecting enough heat.. So the liquid line leaving the condenser would be hot. If its not rejecting enough heat, wash it. I would really take your car to a different mechanic. Sounds like the guys working on it are clueless. I'm assuming there's a wiring diagram for the car somewhere. I don't see why they can't determine which pressure switch is opening.. If its low on refrigerant, the low pressure switch will open. High pressure switch if there's a condenser/condenser fan issue

ryce4u

He did showed me that when he rev up the engine , the high pressure spiked from 150 to 350 . I think i'll take it to another mechanic tomorrow and see what they have to say.