So it's starting to get warm here and I tried the A/C today. It was blowing cold last year and this year all I get is hot air. The compressor is running. I can't attest to the state of the charge. It's been retrofitted for R134a. When I engage the system I can hear what sounds like a vacuum leak from the passenger's side of the dashboard and when I look closer it appears to come from behind the heater box. Can anyone tell me what I should be looking for before I go digging around under the dash?
I never had a problem with the AC on that car....even after it sit all winter it would still blow cold in the spring. Might need a little freon added to it????
I had run wires over the heater box and through the firewall for temp/volt/oil meters. I thought maybe I had loosened a vacuum line in the process, but the coolant charge is easy enough to check. I'll have to pick up a pressure gauge at the parts store on the way home from work.
you may have a vacuum line that has come off or has a crack in it and not opening the blend door. That would account for the vacuum sound you have when you turn it to A/C.
I would start out with the vacuum lines http://mmb.maverick.to/attachment.php?attachmentid=24577&d=1198198936 or the valve might be cracked on the dash...
update Ok... I checked the charge and it was dead... flatlined... zero. So there's a starting point. I put 25 lbs. of a charge in it as a starting point. It blows cool air now which is a good thing. Still have a vacuum leak somewhere. It is very loud and I'd like to fix it if I can. The thing is that it is as loud inside as it is outside. From the outside it sounds as though it's coming from the area around the vacuum tank circles in red. From the inside it sounds as if it's coming from the "Mysterious Blue Elipse." All items circled in green are functioning normally. (see attached image) If the vacuum tank is leaking would it be loud inside the cabin? Is there a particular part of this system that is notorious for going bad? Is there a possibility I'm overlooking? Thanks everyone for your input so far. Dave EDIT: I assume that the water valve vacuum switch shuts off water flow to the heater core while the A/C is on. It seems to me that this circuit would only be either open or closed when the A/C is on. Does anyone know which? If it is open when the A/C is on then I may be looking a a bad line between the switch and water valve. I'll go do a quick test.
i got a problem with the spring that attacts to the lever when i switch it from cold to hot or the other way around it pops off and i got to take the dash aprt and fix it. But i dont have a/c so i only need the heater.
25 lbs. of pressure, not 25 lbs. of coolant. Probably only half of a standard size can you see at the parts store. 25 lbs is the line between low and good on my gauge. I stuck to the low side because I didn't know the specs for the Maverick.
Dave One way to find your leak is to get a 3 to 4 ft length 1/4'' hose put one end to your ear and with the engine running use the other end to go from point to point and see if you can find the leak . My first place to start is the vaccum scoruce and work your way to the vaccum canaster ( if you have the metal canaster the leak may be in the middle of the can where the main line goes into the can that seal was bad on mine ) . Check all hose conection ( remember under hood kills rubber hose as well old age ) hope this helps and good luck . Jay
With all this A/C talk lately, I've been messing around with my A/C again so I thought I'd continue with my existing thread. Each summer I put a charge in and it works for a while but by the next summer it's gone. This year I decided to solve the vacuum leak, only to find out it's not a vacuum leak at all. I completely disconnected the entire vacuum system from the engine and plugged the port on the intake. When I switch it to A/C none of the vacuum lines activate, but I still hear the hissing sound. It is coming from the firewall area where the A/C lines pass through. Is the silver block by the firewall the expansion valve? Any ideas where I should go from here?
A vacuum leak will have nothing to do with why you have to charge it every year (freon), but maybe you knew that. Not sure where the hissing would be coming from, especially if you have it all disconnected.
