No AC

[John Dycus]

2009 Expedition Limited 2wd.
AC worked fine. Suddenly it's not cold. Checked freon, it's good. Checked compressor fuses. All show good. Fan blows as it should. Digital temp display all works normally adjusting temp up & down. Replaced climate controll actuator in front dash 9 months ago due to it missing a tooth & clicking. Still need to replace the rear one. Ok, so it now doesn't blow cold air. Compressor is running, creating condensation dripping on the ground. That tells me it's running. (but I can be wrong). Front temp actuator has been working fine. No issues at all.
Rear air is also not cold. However the heated & cooled seats work well. When in cool mode, they get nice & cold.
Also, does this vehicle have to ac compressors? One in front and also in the rear? Condensation also drips from the passenger rear when it's turned on? Maybe one compressor with to coils? One in front & one in rear?
I'm not a ac guy. Wish I was. Working in FL this week. Miami was 95° a few days ago...

 

[Bedrck47]

only one compressor

 

[deweysmith]

It has two evaporators, one in the front and one in the back. One compressor. If it's dripping on the ground, that means the A/C system is working properly, condensation would not build up on the evaporator unless the system was working.

You replaced the blend door actuator? That was about to be my next suggestion, hahaha.

 

[stamp11127]

What did you check the refrigerant level with?

Do you hear the compressor clutch engage when the system is first turned on, engine running?

 

[John Dycus]

Dropping in the front and rear as it should. Rear actuator needs to be replaced (clicking). I replaced the front one several months ago. Lost most of the skin on my knuckles in the process. Have had zero issues until this trip. Checked the freon pressure with a off the shelf freon refill kit. Bought the one with the pressure gauge so I could see the actual psi. With the engine running and the air conditioning turned on Max cool unfortunately the pressure was 100 PSI. Bad...I know. my suspicion my suspicion of it being too low on Freon turned out to be the opposite. So I reduced the pressure that was in it to normal operating pressure. When I saw how much pressure was in it I thought maybe it had a safety feature that would stop the compressor from running. After reducing the pressure it made no difference. Yet condensation is still forming and dripping in the front and in the rear which I think is good and normal the seats when you turn the cooling feature on they get very cold. I believe the way that the seats are cooled is the AC is blowing cold air through them??
With the air conditioner turned on if I adjust the temperature to the max heat setting it blows very hot air when I adjust it all the way down to 60 which is the coolest setting it blows warm air. So the thermostat setting is working it's adjusting up and down but the air never gets cold.
I really don't get it since the compressor is working as it should it's building condensation in the front and the rear the seats are cool but what comes out of the vent is not even though the actuator motor that's adjusting the temperature is working properly I'm stumped

 

[johnboneske]

You cant check the pressure without the system running. If the compressor doesnt kick in, it doesnt matter what the gauge says. Did you check the lower pressure cut out switch on the accumulator? Thats a common failure...

100PSI?? Low pressure side should NEVER be that high, Id say the compressor hasnt kick in. Here is a pressure chart. To do it proper you should do low and high side.

 

[John Dycus]

I appreciate the input. My question is if the evaporator coils are building condensation and it's dripping doesn't that mean the compressor is running correctly? Additionally when I turn the air conditioner on and off inside the vehicle when it comes on I do not hear the click of the compressor locking in but it's still dripping condensation the entire time it's running

 

[stamp11127]

1st off the cans with the gauge are a joke.
2nd just because the lines are dripping doesn't mean the system is running optimally.
3rd are the lines getting cold & hot while the system is running?
4th why let the refrigerant out? If the system isn't running you read the static pressure not the operating pressure. Now the system may be under charged.

 

[deweysmith]

I believe the way that the seats are cooled is the AC is blowing cold air through them??

Nosir. The seats are cooled by a thermo-electric device similar to what you find in an electric cooler for camping. There are two and they blow in the seat and the seat back. When you heat the seats they simply reverse the polarity of the thermo-electric device and it heats instead of cools. They are not connected to the A/C system at all.

Also, condensation is a sign the system is working. It may not be optimal as stamp said but if it’s colds enough to condense water in the air, it should be cold enough to be noticeable in the cabin. I would not have adjusted the refrigerant level/pressure at all, I think you’re looking in the wrong place entirely, personally.

 

[John Dycus]

I really appreciate the information. So even though the off the shelf can with a gauge said it was 100psi+, most likely it wasn't? I can charge it back to where it was in the morning