A/C trouble

[obstuba916]

Hi all,
I have a 1994 chevy 1500 and since ive had the truck(1year), it does not blow cold air. The heat is hotter than a two dollar pistol. I picked up some ac pro and had the autozone guy help me out (because i dont know ) and according to the ac pro dial, im full on refrigerant. It wouldnt take any at all. So my question(s), what is wrong? What should i do? How much is a new ac unit/condenser/ whatever? Is this common with other 94's or trucks of the era? Thanks in advance.

 

[ima93chevyguy]

First thing I would do is take out your blower motor fan and look up into where the condenser is and see if there's any leaves trash or gunk on it. That tends to happen a lot on these trucks since there's no in cabin air filter.

There's a bunch of Youtube videos on how to clean it if yours is dirty

 

[someotherguy]

Negatory...nice thought, but if the system was clogged with debris he would have poor airflow regardless of temperature. All the airflow goes through the evaporator core which is the location that gets clogged up.

When you turn the A/C on, does the compressor engage? If no, then you'll need to find out why. It's possible the low pressure switch on the accumulator is defective. You can temporarily(!) work around that by unplugging the harness there and jumping it with a small paper clip; be careful to not damage the pins.

If it is engaging but still not getting cold, then take the truck to someone that will put a set of gauges on the A/C system and see what is really happening. The pressures may be way out of whack due to a restriction in the system like gunk (or shredded compressor bits and gunk) clogging the orifice tube.

Richard

 

[PlayingWithTBI]

Or your blend door isn't closing allowing hot air from the heater core in.

 

[Mark Gilbert]

Unfortunately more information is really needed to help you diagnose your issue.

Does your compressor actually turn? Not just the pulley but the center of the hub? If it is turning then you should have both a high and low side gauge hooked up. Those pressures can help you determine several other factors.

If it isn't turning and your system is fully charged then you won't be able to pull much more refrigerant into the system.

That would be my first priorities to check, if all of that is good then you will look at the blend door possibilities. We are going to assume that you don't have a blocked evaporator or bad indoor fan because you said the heat works great. You should still see a temperature change when you switch from hot to cold even if the A/C isn't working. It won't be cold, but it won't be "as hot"