a/c help

[mile819]

i have an 03 liberty that the a/c only blows cold when moving. i can hear and see the condensor engage about 5-10 seconds at a time while at idle. i just replaced the radiator fan relay, checked the fan also it seems fine.

 

[ChiefRudy]

i have an 03 liberty that the a/c only blows cold when moving. i can hear and see the condensor engage about 5-10 seconds at a time while at idle. i just replaced the radiator fan relay, checked the fan also it seems fine.

Mine started doing something similar last season. If I drive my jeep for the 1st time of that day it's instantly coo but once i shut it off and turn it back on say in 5-10 minutes (Example I run into a store for a bit). Once i turned it back on the A/C will take a while to cool down if at all depending if i'm doing city driving or not. Driving on the highway will help it coo faster. I have never had my A/C re-charged and my KJ is 5 years old now. I tried the DIY Recharge Can but that didn't do anything. So I'm going to get a re-charge done.

My wife's 02KJ A/C wasn't working to well either even after trying the DIY recharge can. So i took it to Valvoline quick lube for a $100 recharge and it works great now.

 

[osufans]

that sounds like what mine started doing last year. turned out to be a tiny leak in the condenser at the front of the radiator. you might see some oil residue on either end of it that would indicate a leak.

i ended up evacuating the system, sealing the pinhole with some epoxy, letting it cure, then vacuumed and recharged the system.

in the meantime, they make recharge bottles that have dye in them to help track the leak. you could top off your system with that and try to determine where the leak is.

 

[porkerface]

i have an 03 liberty that the a/c only blows cold when moving. i can hear and see the condensor engage about 5-10 seconds at a time while at idle. i just replaced the radiator fan relay, checked the fan also it seems fine.

I just had my AC serviced twice. They recharged it two months ago. It needed that, but that wasn't the problem. The Clutch assembly on the compressor was going bad. Specifically, the bearing insided the clutch assembly was going bad.

Open your hood, turn your car and a/c on and watch the clutch assembly. If it is not engaging, it will not spin, although the pulley around it will. If it's not spinning, then you're ac will not work and you probably have some compressor issues. If it is spinning every time you turn it on, then it's something else. Mine was engaging sporadically and I could get it to engage in idle sometimes by poking it with a broom handle while it was running.

If it is your clutch assembly, DO NOT REPLACE THE WHOLE COMPRESSOR OR EVEN THE CLUTCH ASSEMBLY. The Dealer may tell you to do that. You can actually buy a bearing for 44 bucks on line and ask them to replace that part.
You can probably replace it yourself, but why bother unless you like that sort of thing.