FordFR

I have owned my 2002 Explorer XLS since November. Since then the A/C has worked great. It has been a mild winter and the A/C has been getting used since the middle of March. Recently I have noticed that the A/C is blowing air that is the same temperature as the outside air. I just tried the heater and turned it on full blast and it worked fine, when I switched it back to cooling the air came out ice cold. Does anyone have any idea why this happened?

 

ax0n

I wouldn't worry about it that much unless it happens again. If the air was the same as outside temp, it probably wasn't a problem with the temperature blend door, but perhaps the A/C compressor hadn't kicked in yet. That may be the result of an intermittent connection problem somewhere, but if it doesn't happen again, I wouldn't let it eat at you. If it does happen again, try to figure out if the A/C compressor is engaged or not. That will help with troubleshooting.

FordFR

Thanks for the quick reply. I'll keep my eye on it. Am I wrong or should you be able to hear the ccompressor kick on when turning on the a/c?

ax0n

Some you can, others you can't. It's usually a quiet "click" followed almost immediately by a slight drop in RPM's.

The compressor's really close to the driver's side headlight, so you could just watch it. The belt will be turning all the time, but the center of the pulley will be standing still until the A/C clutch engages.

FordFR

Alright, today I get in and the A/C is not blowing cold air. I just read your last reply and what am taking to be the compressor looks to start and stop spinning every 4 seconds. Should this be spinning the whole time the compressor is on?

ax0n

That's called short cycling and usually means your A/C pressure is too low. It should spin for something like 30-90 seconds at a time.

There's another A/C thread here like 4 or 5 posts down from this one where I post pics of the A/C service port location on my '03 XLS, and I link to a guide I wrote for troubleshooting and servicing the A/C system on a Ford Focus. Between the post I wrote and the article I wrote that I linked to, you should be able to get the pressure tested and probably get the A/C system recharged.

Remember, A/C systems don't lose pressure unless there's a leak. Although, usually a small leak will hold enough refrigerant to get you through a summer, you might look into adding some U/V dye (as shown in my article) and trying to track down the leak if you notice you have to recharge it more than once every few months.

FordFR

Thanks for the reply. I went to your site and it is definelty short cycling. A week ago I bought the recharge kit and it really wasn't low, I put just enough in to get it to the top of the green, as per the instructions I did not go into the yellow. From what I read on your page I guess the pressure would be the next thing I would check. The problem is I just moved, I don't have the tools or a mechanic I trust (including the Ford Dealerships). What do you recommend?

ax0n

shut it off and read the pressure on the gauge. Ignore the colors. Get it up to about 90 PSI or so if you can, then re-start it and see if the A/C kicks on.