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Air conditioner suddenly intermittent 850 1995

posted by someone claiming to be tracy on Wed May 2 15:47 CST 2001 [RELATED]

2 days ago while driving home from work on the highway, I had the AC on as it is beginning to warm up in Texas. I'e got the AC on cold, recirculate and the fan on high when gradually the air being blown began to get warmer. It wasn't as if the heater turned on but rather like the AC wasn't cooling the air so I had nice humid warm air instead of nice cold air.

Then, just suddenly the air got cold again. About 5 miles later it did the same thing...

Needless to say I'm a bit concerned as I have read various messages suggesting to make offerings to various deities to appease and thereby avoid having to replace a major AC system component.

Any ideas on what may have caused this to happen?

Tracy

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Re: Air conditioner suddenly intermittent 850 1995

posted by someone claiming to be Jim on Thu May 3 05:13 CST 2001 [RELATED]

This sounds like what just happened to my '96 855 a couple of weeks ago. (I posted a message about weird A/C problem and a follow-up.) It would go cold then warm then back to cold with a period of just a few miles of freeway driving.

Took it to the repair shop and they replaced an A/C relay that is located behind the glove box. Its a little blue relay about 3/4" cubed. Turn out that the relay had a crack internally that would make and then break causing the compressor to cycle off/on/off. I think the cost of the relay was about $20.00. Not doing the repair myself I'm not sure how difficult it would be, but the relay once found can be change by simply pulling out the old and inserting the new one.

Good luck.

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Re: Air conditioner suddenly intermittent 850 1995

posted by someone claiming to be bob on Wed May 2 16:42 CST 2001 [RELATED]

Sounds like a compressor temp sensor problem. There is a sensor on the back of the compressor that prevents compressor overheating. The sensors have been known to fail. System discharge is not necessary to replace the sensor, but it is a bit tricky to access. It's on the back side of the comp, on the engine side, has a single wire, and plugs in to the compressor wiring at a metal clip on the radiator side of the comp.

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Re: Air conditioner suddenly intermittent 850 1995

posted by someone claiming to be Kamal on Fri May 4 07:59 CST 2001 [RELATED]

I have a '95 850 - when I tried to use my airconditioner this year, it was dead - blew hot air. Took it to the dealer and they performed a pressure test and called me to say that the evaporator would need to be replaced at a cost of $1100.

I asked them to leave the car alone and not make any repairs. Now, I find that the a/c works just fine! My conclusion is that they were either trying to bamboozle me, or, the evaporator has a slow leak and may lose the freon over time.

Can anyone knowledgable comment on the likelihood of the evaporator having a leak, and how long I could expect it to hold the freon??

Thanks in advance

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Re: Air conditioner suddenly intermittent 850 1995

posted by someone claiming to be Steve F. on Fri May 4 10:53 CST 2001 [RELATED]

Chances are what they did was to refll your system with R-134(so it wold have presure), and add dye so they could check with a black light to spot where the leak was. For now the AC will work.....until the R-134 gets down too far and the system will not work.

At any rate the evap problem is VERY common, and the fix is always about $1000-$1200. If you had a VIP extended warranty it would be covered though.

You could try some of the Wall/K-Mart R-134 re-filler & sealer products....thats if your state has no laws stopping the sale of the stuff......here in NJ they have it at K-Mart for a few bucks.

Or you could check out bay-13 to see the repair, and what it takes to replace the evap.

Good luck

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Re: Air conditioner suddenly intermittent 850 1995

posted by someone claiming to be Steve F. on Sat May 5 06:42 CST 2001 [RELATED]

TEST....NT

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Re: Air conditioner suddenly intermittent 850 1995

posted by someone claiming to be tracy on Thu May 3 01:28 CST 2001 [RELATED]

Thanks Bob. Is there a way for me to test this to ensure that this may be the problem?

Also, would replacing it be DIY or a shop job?

Tracy

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Re: Air conditioner suddenly intermittent 850 1995

posted by someone claiming to be Gian Giacoppe on Tue May 8 10:40 CST 2001 [RELATED]

Mine just started to act up the same way, but it's been unseasonably hot, and I'm not sure that the overheat sensor described above isn't a good reason for it (temps are up over 100 degrees) - I'll probably have it check out anyway and let you know what it is in the next couple weeks

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Re: Air conditioner suddenly intermittent 850 1995

posted by someone claiming to be Gian Giacoppe on Mon May 14 05:39 CST 2001 [RELATED]

Had it looked at, they spent an hour or two trying ot get it to act up, but the shop I took it too was by the coast and much cooler, however, the refrigerant charge was pretty low (about 6 pounds according to them) and they just refilled it and sent me on my way.

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