A/c issue
 

Ever since I bought this car last year the air conditioning hasnt worked. If i turn it on it will blow just fine, just not cold SO i'm wondering..... Do i need a refrigerant refill? I have a brand new can of r134a but i'm worried that i might mess something up because i'm not sure if it was drained of r12.

88 gxl n/a stock besides exhaust and oil cooler lines, any advice will be helpful:icon_tup:

Does the compressor turn on when you turn on the AC?

There's a lot of possibilities here. Just dumping some R134 in there isn't the best solution.

Do you have a set of A/C gauges you can use? The compressor won't turn on if there's no refrigerent in the system as a safety.

You need adaptor fittings, a new drier, ester oil, and a system flush if you plan to convert to R134 the proper way.

However, I just made the change to freeze12 myself, and am very satisfied.

Also, if it's out of freon, there's a leak somewhere. It would be best to identify the point it's leaking first before re-filling the system. While some sort of dye certainly helps, you can also identify leaks by looked for gummy/wet spots on the hoses and connections.

Also, you could have anything from bad switches, to a bad compressor, etc...

So yeah, the first question, does the compressor kick on when the A/C switch on?

yeah i also switched to freeze12 and my ac works like a champ!!! Make sure your compressor kicks on first though

how do i know when the compressor kicks in? Should i be able to hear it? I never really ran the a/c for long because i thought it was busted

Theres two ways...
-You can hear it
-And you'll see the ENTIRE pulley on the AC compressor spinning

Okay..... Car was idling fine I think my idle may be set a little too low though 600-700, it usually sits above that first line on the tach.

I turned the a/c on and walked over to the engine bay, engine started bumping hard and shaking around. I depressed the idle screw a bit to bring the rpm back up and left it. My car stalled out. I don't know which belt runs the compressor but from what I can see all my belts are spinning whether the a/c is running or not.

Help? Is the a/c too rough on my engine? I don't know what kind of compression I'm making to be honest

All the belts should always spin. The center of the AC pulley won't spin when the compressor is off.

Where's the ac pulley located? O_o can you show me with a picture or something? I'm sorry, I'm pretty noob. You've been great help so far though

The pulley at the top-drivers side is the power steering pully. Directly beneath it is the AC pulley.

It's hard to find a picture of it, as most RX7's don't have AC anymore. However, one of the FSM's in the FAQ's has pictures of it's location.

Not busting on you , but you are in over your head if you cannot even identify the A/C pulley.

Get someone local with some experience to help you. You will be ahead if you can.

Good Luck.

You probably are right, i'm still learning though. I honestly don't NEED the a/c to work, i'd just be nice to have.

This jpg out of the free online FSM shows the a/c pulley and belt etc.

90% chance that you have a leak somewhere and all R12 is long gone, not surprising on a car thats 22 years old.

You probably gotta go thru what I've been thru, took me couple of days (break it up to about couple hours each day) to finally figure it out how to fix it.(following jackhild59's advise, thx again man ;))

My condenser has a leak (took a while to find it)

a quote from my local shop : to replace the condenser with a USED one, Fix and recharge with r134a gonna cost at least 400 bux. they not gonna even flush the compressor. cuz it takes a long time, and not replacing anything else. and Why 400? cuz I TOLD HIM where the leak is, if they have to find the leak, it would probably cost another 50 more.

I can probably do it for u, but honestly it will be long and it will be expensive (the tools alone cost me couple hundred and ... I have to eat too :))

if you really want to get it fix, be prepared to spend more than 500 (and lots of waiting)

before anything, you might want to find out if u have a leak, u will need a set of gauge to check it.

^ I think i'll live :lol:

500 bux is just a "rough" estimate.

Cuz honestly I spent hmm about 200 something bux in parts (a used Condenser, a brand new drier, some used A/C line, brand new stock o-rings, some Freeze 12 pack, 2 bottles of R134a to find leak, Ester oil)

Not including tools of course, but Im keeping it for life so.

if u're luck and its just some worn out o-rings then all u need is new o-rings, Compressor flush and a new Drier + some labor.

Its not that hot now, Its like 60-70s these couple of days.

Unless you have another car to drive, just wait till Sunday its gonna hit the 90s, without A/C the 7 gonna bake you alive. :)

Maybe i'll go check out midas because they have some kind of "free" a/c check, not sure if theyre still doing it though.

These last few days have been beautiful though...

What would cause my car to stall out when turning the a/c on? My friend says that it could be some kind of relay failure thats supposed to kick the idle up or something. I'm thinking vaccum leak?

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4011/...37046b71d3.jpg

My idle sits slightly above that first line between 1k and 0 rpm. I also get a little blip down in the idle every few seconds

The BAC valve is designed to compensate the load placed upon the engine when things such as the A/C is turned on to help maintain a decent idle. There is a pin at the ECU which recognizes when the A/C is turned on and signals the BAC to adjust the idle accordingly. Your BAC might be sticking, or defective, or the ECU might not be reading the turning on of the A/C properly, or the idle is too low to begin with which could cause this problem.

How do I increase idle? Where exactly is the idle screw?

I do believe my idle is set too low OR I have a vaccum leak.

My bac isn't properally working, I'm already aware of this. Whenever I startup on a cold engine it will shoot up to 3k and then drop down and die UNLESS I tap the gas. If I tap the gas it will go back to 1.5k until warm(as usual)

the idle screw is at the top of the intake manifold.

if your BAC is not working it doesn't matter how u adjust the screw, the idle still gonna suck/stall.

Shoot up to 3K is normal, its part of the accelerate warm up process. but if dies 10 seconds later without tapping the gas you have a problem.

As for the A/C, just get a ball point pen and push the Low pressure valve pin to see if any freeon comes out. when u do it, wear eye protection and keep ur face away from it.

One method of checking the BAC is to have the car running and have someone turn the headlights on and also press on the brakes at the same time and then disconnect the plug to the BAC and look for any change in the engine RPM. If the RPM drops "after" the plug is removed then the BAC is at least working to some extent. If replugging the connector back on with the lights on and brake pedal depressed and the RPM climbs some then this again indicates the BAC is working to some degree.

I would try setting the idle when the car is fully warmed and then disconnect the BAC and then go through the proper procedure as stated in the service manual with respect to setting the idle except the jumpering of the initial set coupler which would be a moot point since the BAC plug would be disconnected. Procedure is found in the link below.

http://www.teamfc3s.org/main/factory...SYSTEMS_NA.pdf

I have a lot to learn.

make sure you push the A/c button on the air conditioner.

heh heh.
...just sayin.

Actually, I made a mistake in stating the initial set coupler should not be jumpered when indeed "it should."

Once I press the a/c button my car begins to stall out.

I may be a noob, but I'm not that stupid.

I'll check out if removing the BAC changes my idle at all.

Have a happy 4th of july to all.

************************************************** *******************

That proves the compressor is indeed engaging (engine stalls out with a/c button engaged).

Sounds like the BAC isn't working like it should. Plug off it? Pins in the elect plug pushed back?

You should hear the difference when the A/C is on vs. when it is off. If your idle drops when your A/C is on, you need to fix the idle air control valve. If your A/C runs but it is weak, you can usually top it off with some Freeze 12 (hunt it down). Otherwise take it to a mechanic for a full flush, fill and leak test. Ask him how much he charges for R12 and if it's a fortune bring in your own Freeze 12. 3 cans including 2 regular and 1 with UV dye and oil IIRC.

If you repeatedly top it off with R134a you'll drastically reduce the life of the compressor, besides getting worse cooling. Emptying all the R12 first is even worse. You need to replace parts to do a real conversion to R134a.

This is what I get for not reading the thread carefully before posting. I think BAC is same as idle air control valve, or what I meant anyway :P.

im having the same problem?? my car runs fine till i turn my a/c on when i turn my a/c on my car stall and i have no idea what going on at all

how about search ? and read stickies ?

well here is the deal
my car runs fine , but when i turn the the a/c the car stall not all the time just when the car is already warm up and when im driving the rpm nidle acting up it keeps going up and down the stall and the battery gauge drop to 12..... do you still think is a problem with the BAC???

Yes, it sounds like the issue is with the BAC. When the car wants to bog down with the a/c activated try turning it off and then right back on and see if this changes anything.

BAC is there to maintain the idle when a LOAD is put on the engine.

BAC cannot do this all by itself. The REAL idle needs to be set at or near 750-800 rpm so the BAC won't have to strggle so much to KEEP the idle at a 750rpm.

If you car is idling and is fully warmed up, turn the a/c on and then pull the plug off the BAC. The rpms should drop when the elect plug is pulled. IF there is no change in rpm.......BAC transistor is kaput inside the ECU most likely if the elect plug that attached to the BAC does not have a pushed back pin.

The above applies to engines that are idling below 800 rpm. IF you have the idle set to 900 or 1000 plus rpm........BAC does not work at those rpm so forget what I wrote.

A simple check of the BAC is to pull it off the engine. Leave its elect plug on and look inside the BAC. Put the key to START with the small trigger wire off the starter solenoid. The BAC should hold full open if the key is HELD to Start, proving the ECU is good. Normal operation of the BAC is it working a approx 120 hz. Like cycling a 120 times a minute............as long as the engine is below???? 900 rpm or there abouts.

Never pry on the guts of the BAC.

well my car show rpm at 900 but when the a/c turn on it drop to about 800-700 and then the nidle start to go nuts by goin 700 to 1000-700-1000-700 and stall and i crack the car back on and it runs fine for another 5 min then start again i wonder if the problem may be electrical ???

TPS set correctly ?

i dont know !!! how can i check??? and some friend of my thinks my tps may be bad?? also can can i check to see if it is??

90% of the time ur TPS is working, its just that its not set correctly. I was one of the 10% unlucky ones to have a way out of spec TPS (failed).

The FSM will tell you exactly what you need to do.