1994 LHS. I recently bought this car and it had no A/C belt. Installed new belt and added freon. The system seemed to work fine.. clutch cycles, air got cold. Then I increased the rpm and the compressor started to make a whining noise& freon started blowing out of the compressor. It was coming out of the back side from some sort of 'valve'. This 'valve' is located on the back side of the plate (head?) on top of the compressor, where the hoses hook to. I did use 2 different hoses with gauges while adding freon. Although they are fromcheap recharge kits both gauges read that I was in the full zone for the freon. Could the system being over full cause the freon to spew out at higher rpm? Is my compressor shot? Could a faulty pressure switch cause this problem? Any help would be greatly appreciated...

On a side note, I bought a recharge kit that contained 3 cans of freon/stop leak/oil mixture.The system took all 3 of those plus a partial can of straight r-134. Is this too much?

 

not sure it takes that much,i would start with checking yourfans make sure they are coming on when you turn the a/c on.sounds like a head pressure problem with the a/c compressor.if your dumping that mush freon with oil in it you might have too much oil in the system.moe.

 

Thanks for resoponding Moe! The fans are cycling. As far as too much oil, the oil is mixed with the freon along with stop leak. All 3 cans that came with the kit were of this mixture.I assumed that I was to keep adding the mixture untillthe (cheap) gauge that came with the kit was reading in the blue (full) range.

I found this problem yesterday and this morning I started the car and kicked on the A/C. It cooled the car. I raised the rpm.. no problem. I raised it a bit higher, 4,000rpm, and held it there. Just about the time I thought the problem had fixed itself all hell broke loose under the hood. I think I now have a slight case of freon poisoning. I know these cars were notorious for A/C problems and was just wondering if I should hit the salvage yard for another compressor or if there would/could be an easier/cheaper fix.

Again, thanks for your reply.

 

don't think its the compressor,i think you have a blockage.maybe the guy before you was dumping stop leak stuff to hide the evap leak.if its been open for a while yourgoing toneed a drier as well.a good set of a/c gauges will save you tons of money.do you have set of gauges?

 

No, Moe, I don't have a good set, though my friend might have a set. I just talked to my mechanic type Bro (don't know why I didn't think of him earlier) and he suggests the orrifice tube may be clogged. Are you familliar with this? If so, where is it and is it available at the local part strore? If I do locate a set of good gauges what would I look for while they are hooked up?

 

its located in the expansion valve heres discription
EXPANSION VALVE
The expansion valve is located on the engine side of the dash panel, near the right shock tower.
The expansion valve can fail in three different positions (open, closed or restricted)
In an Open Position: this will result in a noisy compressor or no cooling. The cause can be a broken spring, broken ball or excessive moisture in the A/C system. If the spring or ball are found to be defective, replace the expansion valve. If excessive moisture is found in the A/C system, recycle the refrigerant.
In a Closed Position: There will be low suction pressure and no cooling. This may be caused by a failed power dome or excessive moisture in the A/C system. If the power dome on the expansion valve is found to be defective replace the expansion valve. If excessive moisture is found recycle the refrigerant.
A Restricted Orifice: There will be low suction pressure and no cooling. This may be caused by debris in the refrigerant system. If debris is believed to be the cause, recycle the refrigerant and replace the expansion valve and receiver/drier.

 

OK... all of the descriptions of a failed expansion valve (and I also assume clogged orifice tube) mention no cooling. My A/C seems to be cooling fine, it just wants to discharge the freon at higher rpms. Do you think it could be a clogged orifice tube and still cool at lower rpms? Is the orifice tube partially unclogged until I raise the rpm then clogs?? Am I reading too much into this. Sorry, I'm an Ex aircraft mechanic (Avionics) and a sometimes back yard mechanic. I realy do appreciate the time you're putting into my problem.