Low side pressure surges upward when clutch ingages

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johnd393

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It's a 2001 Ford ranger. Trucks been sitting most of the last year. A/C Clutch was not engaging. It has been low on r134 before. Added a can, or a partial can, of refrigerant. Now pressure surges upward when clutch engages, then goes down and starts cycling.

I stuck a forsale sign on it and put it out front. Weeks later, everybody wants it too cheap. I'm not giving it away for peanuts, so I might be stuck with it.

So I'm taking another look at the A/C. It cycles but there's no cooling. I'll have to dig into it again to give more detail. My foggy memory thinks cycling pressures were not so low as to indicate low refrigerant. It makes no sense to me that pressure increases when compressor starts. Would the surge in pressure on clutch engage be a sign it's full of air?
 

1955moose

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Do you have a set of r134 gauges? You can rent a set from O'Reillys. We'll need high and low pressure readings. You do realize this is a Expedition forum? Happy to help, but most members are more familiar with Expedition/F150 pickups. Also you might want to repost in Expedition first gen section, gets read more.

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stamp11127

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Since it has required adding refrigerant in the past it is obvious there is a leak. You should find the source of the leak, repair it then do a proper vac & recharge. If not you just end up chasing your tail.
 
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