SolaraGuy.com

My A/C stopped working so I went with the easiest possible solution, measuring the freeon & recharging. Sure enough it was low so I bought some R134a to recharge it. As I was recharging it the car shut off on me. I turned the car on again and the same thing happened. I've recharged freeon before and this is the first time a car has done this. Has this ever happened to anyone and is it normal?

I'd like to add that when I turn the A/C on, the A/C compressor doesn't do the clicking sound therefore besides being low on freeon, I'm thinking the compressor doesn't work. Finally, I've personally never changed the A/C relay so I dont know how thw car reacts when it goes bad but maybe that could be why the compressor isn't activating.

Anyone that has had their car turn off while adding freeon or had to replace the A/C compressor or relay, please let me know. Any help/input is appreciated.

the compressor wont "click" or even try to engage when your low on refrigerant. this is a safety to protect the compressor. when you add charge, the system is no longer low on pressure and will engage the compressor, this is probably when your car stalls. i would suspect the compressor has an issue if its putting so much resistance on your engine that it stalls out, that or your car is not idling right anyway, i would try doing this when you first start you car in the morning and its idling high (around 1k rpm or more), if it cuts your car off from a high idle then i would say the compressor must be the issue. but im honestly guessing.

02slera wrote:the compressor wont "click" or even try to engage when your low on refrigerant. this is a safety to protect the compressor. when you add charge, the system is no longer low on pressure and will engage the compressor, this is probably when your car stalls. i would suspect the compressor has an issue if its putting so much resistance on your engine that it stalls out, that or your car is not idling right anyway, i would try doing this when you first start you car in the morning and its idling high (around 1k rpm or more), if it cuts your car off from a high idle then i would say the compressor must be the issue. but im honestly guessing.

Lol well your guess is as good as mine. I didnt know about it not engaging when its low. Ill try again at start up, lets see what happens. Thanks for your input. Anyone else?

02slera is absolutely right. But, he forgot to mention that your compressor will shut down when its overcharged too. Your kit doesn't tell you what the high side pressure is, so you have no idea how much refrigerant is in your system. Without a high side reading, you're pretty much shooting in the dark. The low side reading is notoriously poor and furthermore, the guages that come with the kit are incorrect on what the proper pressure is for "normal" amount. You must have between 25-35 psi on the low side when the temperature is 85 degrees and the engine is at 1500-2000 rpms. I would venture about 40 psi max at idle 750 rpms.

If there is too much refrigerant, you'll probably have your compressor trying to kick on repeatedly causing your alternator to not keep up with the drain and the battery will do most of the work. Eventually the battery will get low, you're car will start to stall and eventually die. The same is true with the not enough refrigerant.

I have to say that I had a very similar issue to yours, but at a stop light in hot weather, besides my air not blowing cold, my car would start to stall until i got moving or turned off the a/c button. Turns out my condenser fan motor was drawing alot of power putting a strain on the alternator and draining my battery. Not to mention, the motor was also causing my high side pressure to spike dangerously high (normal is 199-220 psi at 85 degrees 1500-2000 rpms), which caused my condenser to shut down prematurely and causing no cold air at idle in hot temps. Notably though, the condenser cannot click on if there is insufficient charge on the battery and output from the alternator.

So, you have four possible issues, not enough refrigerant, too much refrigerant, bad fan motor (just b/c it turns on doesn't mean its good) or excessive power draw. Good luck.