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A/C compressor cycle times.. 850 1996

I have dealt with this issue a lot, as my compressor does the same thing. I finally bought a re-charge kit and measured the low-pressure side, which was well within spec. Compressor cycling is usually caused by low refrigerant, but if you have just had the system re-charged by someone who knows what they are doing and put the right charge in, then *unless* you have a *massive* leak (which would also cause you system to blow hot air), then your compressor cycling is caused by something else. After a lot of thought on the subject, mostly done by my a/c Yoda, Chris Herbst, we decided that the compressor was cycling so much because it was working very well. I live in Santa Barbara, CA, where the temps aren't hot and it's not too humid. I would basically run the a/c to cool the interior cabin when it got warm after being sealed up in the sun all day. My outside temps are rarely above 75 degrees. We decided that the compressor was cycling because there was relatively little burden on the system. This might be your issue, maybe not.

Did the a/c tech add dye to the new refirgerant charge you just had done? If so, run the a/c and go back and have him look for leaks in a couple of weeks. If not, I still think you can have dye added to the charge at this point. He can also measure the low pressure side reading to verify it's within spec. If the charge looks normal, and you can't find leaks, and the a/c blows cold, then either, in my opinion, the system is operating normally even though it's cycling a lot, or you might have an esoteric problem like a bad orifice tube, or a bad a/c relay, or maybe the accumulator needs replacing.

The constant clicking on and off of that relay behind the glovebox drives me crazy, but I'm learning to live with it.

Finally, there is a *ton* of discussion on this subject in the archives, and on the 850 a/c system in general.






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New A/C compressor cycle times.. [850]
posted by  risky123  on Fri Jun 21 05:48 CST 2002 >


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