Help! AC acting up in my '98

[XLR8]

Bear with me, I'm afraid I'm not well versed in the tech speak so I'll try to describe the issue as best I can without using words like the watchmacallit or the dohickey. :L

My '98 is developing an issue with the AC controls. I took it to Kevin the other day when I noticed it wasn't cooling as well. He couldn't find anything obvious and when he put the scanner on it no codes showed up - current or history.

He stated that if it were low on freon it wouldn't cool as well, so he filled it (only needed approximately 1/4 or 1/2 pound).

It's still not cooling as well as in the past and now I've noticed that when I start the engine, the light is on indicating air being pulled in from outside. I change it to recirculating, but as soon as I kill the engine and restart it goes back to outside air.

Then, this morning a new wrinkle... it wouldn't let me change it. As soon as I released the recirc button, it would switch back to outside. The only way I could reset it was to shut the AC off, wait several seconds and then turn it back on.

When I turned it on, it immediately lit the outside air button, but I was able to switch it to recirc. When I got home, I killed the engine, pulled the key for 10 seconds, reinserted the key and restarted the engine. The outside air button came on right away, but again, I was able to change it to recirc.

This is not the original head unit... it's a replacement which was installed new just a little over a year ago.

Any ideas or suggestions to get it back blowing COLD COLD would be much appreciated.

Jane Ann

 

[Eric]

Jane Ann,

Does your car have memory? While that wouldn't explain the poor cooling, it may explain the changes when you start the car. If I pick up the wrong set of keys, mine will immediately switch to whatever Kelly had the AC on when she last drove.

Also, do you know if Kevin put any dye in the system when he added the refrigerant. That will help to trace leaks if any are present.

Other than that, I'm pretty clueless on cooling systems.

Good Luck!

-Eric

 

[XLR8]

Good points, Eric.

I thought about the memory posibility so I set it where I wanted it, then pressed the Memory 1 button on the door armrest and held it to reset. Also, I only use the one key and fob. The spare is tucked away in one of my kitchen cabinets.

Yes, Kevin and Chris put dye in the freon they added to show any leaks if they occur.

I'm tied up until Thursday but I'll likely take it back to Kevin then. I thought I'd mention it here in case someone else had experienced the issue.

Jane Ann