A/C motor or out of coolant?

[Deezul_AwT]

My A/C isn't blowing cold air, just blowing air. Doesn't work at defrost either to blow cold air. When I change the temp to hot, it blows hot. And all through this, the A/C motor is loud. Bad A/C, no coolant, or both?

The easy way to find the problem is take it to a shop near me that does free A/C checks, but I'm sure they'll try the hard sell when I find out what's wrong. And not having A/C isn't killing me, since I use the car for newspaper delivery. I only need the A/C when I'm done folding and I'm trying to cool down.

[dsmuts]

Does the compressor kick on at all?

[Tony Mendez]

Open the hood with the car running and see if the compressor clutch is spinning. If it is, look for 2 aluminum lines going in to the firewall. The large tube should be cold to the touch if your A/C system is functioning properly. If it is cold then you have a problem inside your HVAC box.

If your blower motor is loud, you may want to pull it down and take a look at it. Critters like to get inside and nest. Can't tell ya how many mice and nests I have found inside the cage of the blower motor. Critter debris tends to throw the blower motor cage out of balance. Just a thought.

[Deezul_AwT]

I don't think it's the blower motor, as the "loudness" goes away when I switch to just heat. It's still the original A/C compressor, so a 12 year old car with 180k miles, it won't surprise me if the compressor is shot or it's out of coolant. But I'll test out if it's cold or not when I have a chance.

[Deezul_AwT]

Turned the control to Max A/C, full blower. I'm not sure where the clutch is that I should look for, but something engaged when the A/C was turned on. None of the pipes were cold though, so it might be something as simple as out of coolant.

[matt5112]

put a gauge on it and find out.

[Tony Mendez]

The A/C system does not use coolant. It requires R134A Refrigerant and Pag oil in specific amounts. If you stand in front of the car, hood open, look down below the coils. Down there you will find the A/C compressor. On the front of the A/C compressor is the clutch/pulley assembly which is driven off of the serpentine belt. If the car is running the pulley will spin but the clutch will only engage if there is sufficient refrigerant in the system and the mode selector is in one of the A/C positions or on Defrost. It should cycle on until the system pressure on the Low Side drop to a specific level. Then the clutch will cycle off, preventing the evaporator core from freeze up. If the system has a low charge the clutch will cycle rapidly. If your A/C clutch does not cycle at all, you will need to determine what the problem is. My advise...take it to a shop and have it checked out.

[Deezul_AwT]

Yeah, I was using coolant as the word refrigerant wasn't coming to me. Since it's getting cold, I've got time. Probably the next time I take it in for oil change/tire rotation I'll have the shop do an A/C check. I've been there enough the past few months they probably won't charge me. The place that does free checks, I've never been before, so I'm leery of them trying to tell me everything ELSE that's wrong with my car. :