no cold air..?

Question

2000 pontiac grand prix gt. 3800 engine. only hot air blows when ac wanted. no 12 volts to air compressor..clutch not clicking on..anyone experience this before. ???? thanks...

Answer 1

I had that problem. It was a leak of refrigerant. Instead of blowing cold air (about 40F) it was blowing hot. Luckily it was covered by extended service plan.

Federal antipollution regulations say that the refrigerant can only be purchased by a licensed repair shop. They need to use a machine that will suck out all of the remaining refrigerant into a closed recycling container and subject the system to a -50psi vacuum. When the system is empty it needs to hold that vacuum for a half hour and then refrigerant can be added through the same machine. They then run the A/C for an hour because the high positive pressure (150pis) can still make the refrigerant come out. If they can't account for all of the refrigerant they use and seem to use too much in a month the place can lose its license to purchase refrigerant and repair air conditioners.

The days in which you could go to Walmart and get your own can of refrigerant and add it are long gone. Those days have been legislated out of existence.

Answer 2

Exactly. Always check the freon before you let some shop perform EXPENSIVE repairs! Some cars will cut off the air altogether when the freon gets low and the owner thinks he has a major problem. Always check the freon first -- this is 90% of air conditioner problems in cars.