A/C compressor

[happeetxn]

Howdy All,
I had to put a new hose on my truck, from the compressor to the dryer(?). The long one that goes along the firewall. Anyways, I had a vacuum pulled on the system at a local A/C shop but put the R-134a in myself here at the house. Filled the system up like the A/C manual said, the only gauge I have screws on to the R-134a, not real A/C gauges, but it showed in the blue indicating full and not overcharged. I put in 1 1/2 cans of refrigerant. My A/c compressor runs all of the time now, and I was pretty sure that it used to cycle on and off. Am I facing a component failure in the near future?
Thanks,
Craig

 

[MUDWHISTLE]

Sounds like it is still low on charge, Is the air as cold as it was before? 1 and a 1/2 cans sounds low if they are the size I'm thinking (size of a soda can give or take) If you knew someone who has guages or the take it to the shop and see what the pressures are with their guages, depending on what ambient temp it is low side would probly be around 18 to 25 and high side should be 180 to 230 again depend on how hot it is and how much air flow is being moved across the condensor.

 

[MUDWHISTLE]

also if the ambient temp is very high like 105+ a compressor can run all of the time due to the evaporator switch never seeing a cold enough temp in the evaporator to cycle the comperssor on and off. just another thought, at least until the cab air gets cooled enough to allow the system to work efficiantly

 

[powerboatr]

mudwhistle is on it, you really need the gauges hooked up on the low and high side, you could be shooting in the dark all day and never get it right. 134 doesnt work well over serviced and can cause seal failure with pressure spikes,
you could have a very high high side and still be low on 134 and pop goes a seal or the relief valve,

you can pick up a set of gauges for under 100 easy

 

[BJS]

^^^ what they said


Depending on how long you had the system open it is also a good idea to replace the accumulator when opening a system because it also serves as a dryer for the system. Many shops it is a standard if you open the system you get a new dryer or if you've been leaking down and have no pressure then it should be replaced.

Autozone sells a set of guages for relatively cheap, Don't remember what they cost just saw them out there on a display when I was in there the other day picking up some engine paint.

 

[happeetxn]

Thanks Everyone