AC going south?

[rockymountain]

I have always had a little whine with the AC on that was noticeable when accelerating and when the rpms were revving up. Does every kj have just a little whine noise with the AC on? Now it is getting a little louder and the air seems a little less cool this year. Could I just need a recharge? Does anyone have any insight on this? Thanks!

 

[jnaut]

If you need a recharge, the system is leaking and should be fixed. AC systems are closed and sealed.

Stick a meat thermometor down the vent to see what temp it's actually blowing.

As for the whine, you could be hearing your electric fan running. My engine sounds a bit like a bit like a jet when sitting at lights because the electric fan always runs when the AC is on.

You should listen to it standing in front of it with the hood up and see if the AC clutch itself is making a specific noise.

 

[rockymountain]

Ok, yea tomorrow I'm gonna put a thermometer on it and see. The whine is not the fan. I know what the fan sounds like. The whine goes with the speed of the engine as in the more rpm the higher the pitch of the whine. It doesn't do the so called whine while sitting at idle. It's most noticible while accelerating. I guess I just need to know what temp it should blow out of the vent.

 

[jnaut]

Ok, yea tomorrow I'm gonna put a thermometer on it and see. The whine is not the fan. I know what the fan sounds like. The whine goes with the speed of the engine as in the more rpm the higher the pitch of the whine. It doesn't do the so called whine while sitting at idle. It's most noticible while accelerating. I guess I just need to know what temp it should blow out of the vent.

Temp should be pretty cold. Somewhere around 40 degrees once the compressor's been on for a minute.

As for the whine, if it's with the RPM's, you should probably be able to positively identify that standing in front of the vehicle. Don't discount the tensioner/idler pulley assembly. Lot of those go out around 100,000 miles if they're OEM. (although you'd have the whine all the time, so that probably isn't it).

Good luck, let us know what you find.

EDIT: Here's where my KJ is rockin' the AC temp. Took this today:

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[rockymountain]

I guess it's ok. I'm sitting at 42 degrees.

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Yesterday it was just really humid and about 87 degrees. I also thought I had it on recirculate, but I didn't. I opened the hood and revved it up and really didn't hear anything out of the ordinary. The ac clutch seems to disengage and engage like normal. Anyway, I guess it's ok for now.

 

[Ry' N Jen]

Well, I'll try this again...
Seeing that some of my posts are magically disapearing from this forum today!

When our condenser started leaking and boiled off all the refrigerant, the
compressor started making a wretched guttural sound.
Sounded like the clutch pulley bearing was about to pack it in.
But never a whining sound.
Once the condenser was replaced and the A/C system was recharged, the sound went away!
Our rig as of today has 205637.00 KM on the clock and is still on the same compressor.
The condenser lasted until 204600.00 ish KM!
So, the condenser should be good for another 200,000.00 KM

 

[jnaut]

I guess it's ok. I'm sitting at 42 degrees.

Yesterday it was just really humid and about 87 degrees. I also thought I had it on recirculate, but I didn't. I opened the hood and revved it up and really didn't hear anything out of the ordinary. The ac clutch seems to disengage and engage like normal. Anyway, I guess it's ok for now.

Yeah, and I'm assuming that thermometer doesn't have a probe going down into your vent, so just holding it front of the vent will probably result in a slightly higher reading. I'll bet if you stuck a thermometor with a probe down there (as did I) you'd probably read right at 40 degrees.

 

[rockymountain]

Yeah, and I'm assuming that thermometer doesn't have a probe going down into your vent, so just holding it front of the vent will probably result in a slightly higher reading. I'll bet if you stuck a thermometor with a probe down there (as did I) you'd probably read right at 40 degrees.

The thermometer I used is actually from an old dairy cooler display like you see at the grocery. It has about a 3 inch probe on the back and is actually designed to take air temp. I had to hold it up because it's so darn heavy it wouldn't stay up. I could drive without it falling out though.
Thanks for your help. I actually never knew the air was so cold. And I never thought I would ever need to use that thermometer for anything besides sticking it in the peg board in my garage to see how hot it gets in there.