[JWWBilly]

So I just had my AC sorta replaced. It’s blowing hot/dry, anything but cold. He said something along the lines of,”sometimes we gotta jiggle this silver wire for it to work” anybody know anything that could be causing it to blow hot from these pictures. Any ideas? Compressor was replaced as well and is spinning and running. Air blows correctly too

 

[BigBlue 94]

I think that plug should be hooked to the black canister in the pics. The silver wire is acting as a jumper, completing a circuit. The canister is the dryer for the AC system.

 

[JWWBilly]

I think that plug should be hooked to the black canister in the pics. The silver wire is acting as a jumper, completing a circuit. The canister is the dryer for the AC system.

Ok, thats what everybody has said so far. What does that mean basically? I’m not very smart when it comes to AC. What should I do just plug it back in?

 

[BigBlue 94]

Ok, thats what everybody has said so far. What does that mean basically? I’m not very smart when it comes to AC. What should I do just plug it back in?

Everything looks to be fairly clean and new so i would just plug it in and see what happens. I am curious as to why that piece of wire is there though. Looks as if they were trying to determine if that sensor was bad.

 

[JWWBilly]

Everything looks to be fairly clean and new so i would just plug it in and see what happens. I am curious as to why that piece of wire is there though. Looks as if they were trying to determine if that sensor was bad.

I believe that’s what they had said. I’ll plug it back when when I get the chance. Does that plug have an effect on if it blows cold or not? They replaced the compressor, flushed, charged and refilled it.

 

[BigBlue 94]

I believe that’s what they had said. I’ll plug it back when when I get the chance. Does that plug have an effect on if it blows cold or not? They replaced the compressor, flushed, charged and refilled it.

I would take it back and ask them why it doesnt work. I dont really know what effect that has on the system. Regardless, it doesnt work and they should be responsible.

 

[JWWBilly]

I would take it back and ask them why it doesnt work. I dont really know what effect that has on the system. Regardless, it doesnt work and they should be responsible.

I’ll play with it when I get the chance, if nothing I’ll bring it back tomorrow. Thanks for the information.

 

[Tom S.]

The jumper is to check the low pressure switch. I did the same thing on mine and it turned out that my high pressure switch that is in back of the compressor was bad,

 

[JWWBilly]

The jumper is to check the low pressure switch. I did the same thing on mine and it turned out that my high pressure switch that is in back of the compressor was bad,

Do you think that has anything to do with the air not being cold?

 

[klh95bronco]

If the compressor runs without cutting off every few seconds then the low pressure switch wire rig job is working.

If the A/C system is cooling anything in its system, then you will see condensation on the accumulator ( the black canister ) and it will be very cold, sometimes even freezing the condensation on it. If your system is making the accumulator cold under the hood but you are still getting hot air in the cab, then your hot / cold air damper is not working. It is stuck on hot air.

From the picture you posted, I am very concerned about the corrosion on the wires on that plug. That is probably why your mechanic told you that you may have to jiggle that wire.

If I were you I would fix the wires on that plug so they aren't corroded and replace that low pressure switch. You need that switch to work properly because that switch tells your compressor to stop working if the refrigerant level gets too low. With it rigged up with that wire, if you have a slow leak and the refrigerant gets low, you will burn up your new compressor.

Also, no offense intended, but I would find a new mechanic. If he cared about your vehicle and the money you spent on it, he would have told you what I just did in the sentence above.

 

[JWWBilly]

Update: I plugged it in and it’s not blowing gross dry air anymore. It’s cool but it’s not cool enough/ actually cold air. It’s just like a breeze. What can I do to improve its temperature?

 

[TheWolf]

Hopefully when you replaced your compressor or had your compressor replaced they also flushed the lines, replaced your condenser, dryer/accumulator and changed the orifice tube, especially if you had a catastrophic failure of the compressor - Black Death. If your orifice tube is clogged it will effect the cooling of the AC system. If you have contaminants in the system from a failed compressor the new compressor will soon fail from debris in the lines. Most compressor warranties require you replace the condenser at the time of repair. Also, you want to make sure you have 7oz of PAG oil in the system. Your new compressor should have come with oil in it, but some come oilless, though most come with the required oil. The next thing is to make sure you change the O-rings and oil the new O-rings to avoid any leaks in the system. The last thing to check is if your system is properly charged with the correct amount of refrigerant. Your accumulator is R12 so I am assuming you have not converted to R13a. If you have converted to R13a you would have had to flush the entire system of R12 because the two refrigerants do not mix. When I converted to r13a I changed the accumulator to R13a. If your refrigerant is too low then your compressor will not and cycle properly. In short you can not just change a compressor and everything work properly. You have to look at the entire system.

On another note, if ANY part of the system is opened, removed a part or hose, you have to vacuum the entire system before adding in any refrigerant.

 

[TheWolf]

 

[JWWBilly]

Hopefully when you replaced your compressor or had your compressor replaced they also flushed the lines, replaced your condenser, dryer/accumulator and changed the orifice tube, especially if you had a catastrophic failure of the condenser - Black Death. If your orifice tube is clogged it will effect the cooling of the AC system. If you have contaminants in the system from a failed condenser the new condenser will soon fail from debris in the lines. Most condenser warranties require you replace the condenser at the time of repair. Also, you want to make sure you have 7oz of PAG oil in the system. Your new condenser should have come with oil in it, bit some come oilless, though most come with the required oil. The next thing is to make sure you change the O-rings and oil the new O-rings to avoid any leaks in the system. The last thing to check is if your system is properly charged with the correct amount of refrigerant. Your accumulator is R12 so I am assuming you have not converted to R13a. If you have converted to R13a you would have had to flush the entire system of R12 because the two refrigerants do not mix. When I converted to r13a I changed the accumulator to R13a. If your refrigerant is too low then your compressor will not and cycle properly. In short you can not just change a compressor and everything work properly. You have to look at the entire system.

On another note, if ANY part of the system is opened, removed a part or hose, you have to vacuum the entire system before adding in any refrigerant.

They did convert it to 134A and did flush the system. I noticed the compressor isn’t spinning anymore so I just decided to drop it back off at the shop.

 

[ShanoS]

There’s a reason that low pressure switch is there and not just ON full time as your ‘mechanic’ appears to have plumbed it. There are quite a few threads on FSB describing A/C parts and function, enough to have convinced me to take mine to a pro to get it working correctly.

As i recall that switch bypass jumper serves to test the compressor function and should only be left on for a very short period, otherwise damage to the compressor occurs from running continuously

 

[Motoxman56]

So I just had my AC sorta replaced. It’s blowing hot/dry, anything but cold. He said something along the lines of,”sometimes we gotta jiggle this silver wire for it to work” anybody know anything that could be causing it to blow hot from these pictures. Any ideas? Compressor was replaced as well and is spinning and running. Air blows correctly too View attachment 179044 View attachment 179045

 

[Motoxman56]

The only reason I have ever jumped the low pressure switch is when adding Freon to engage the clutch and turn the compressor before there is enough pressure to turn it on. Leaving a jumper on by a professional mechanic means they either forgot to take it off and plug it in or there is something really wrong with the job they did. I suspect whoever did this did a bad job and your system isn’t working. Too much oil in the system, lack of Freon, bad switch or anything else is possible. I would take it to an A/C only place and have them check it if you don’t have the tools or ability to do it yourself.
Good Luck with it.

 

[JWWBilly]

Update: a replaced cycle switch has done the job. Now it works fine

 

[TheWolf]

Update: a replaced cycle switch has done the job. Now it works fine

Got to love when it is a simple solution. Glad to hear your AC system is up and running, just in time for summer!

 

[ShanoS]

FWIW i just had a local A/C specialist here in SD replace my entire system, all new 134 spec parts. They build the hoses in house in order to be able to accommodate whatever parts are needed to get the job done where OEM hoses are not always available for older rigs. So far so good, turned the inside of my truck into a sub arctic meat locker. 2600 seemed steep but these guys were highly recommended, i figure its worth it to have ‘good as new’ and not have to worry