AC abruptly no longer cooling

[Viper1969]

Pardon my noobiness, I just bought my Ti on Friday. On Wednesday, the AC was blowing pretty cold, but not frigid. After I left work on Thursday, the AC was blowing just a hair warmer than ambient. It's still that warm today.

Where should I start with this?

[Viper1969]

Any thoughts?

[CirrusSR22]

Freon pressure. All auto part stores sell kits with a pressure gauge attached to tank of freon. Follow the instructions on the package.

[kelly.st]

yea my ACs been sucking for a couple months now too. i roughed it through the heat of summer tho haha so ill probably just wait until next year to take a look at it.

[b.u.ti-ful]

Be sure your cooling fan under the hood is turning on when you punch the AC button.

There are a few different set-ups on these fans, but if you don't hear/see the fan turn on under the hood, it's broken.

[zboot]

Just to let you know - it's not freon. You need to get refrigerant - R134a. Nobody should be selling freon anymore.

[Viper1969]

Thanks all. I was thinking it shouldn't be the refrigerant, since it was working well one day and then not at all the next. Does that make sense?

[aceyx]

Condenser coil suction fan. Fuse or motor's gone.

[CirrusSR22]

Freon, Refrigerant, whatever. Implies the same issue....

Low refrigerant will cause the system to stop working all-together. Once it drops below a certain level the compressor will no longer run.

Do you know the previous owner? It's possible the system was filled before you test drove it, making it seem OK. A slow leak over a week or so could drop the level to the point where it no longer works. My parents car does just this. You can fill it up and it'll work wonderfully, for about one week. Hook the 134 bottle up, start to refill the system and the AC kicks to life for another week.

Not saying it's your issue, but the cheapest and easiest thing to rule out outside of fuses.

[Viper1969]

Thanks again.

Cirrus, I bought it from someone here and I'd spoken to him about this after I noticed it. He hadn't had it charged as long as he'd owned it, and wasn't aware of any leaks.

I checked the fuses and everything looks ok. I'll pick up a refrigerant kit tomorrow and see what happens.

[Viper1969]

Picked up a kit and connected it to the low valve. The gauge read in the red, 125psi +. I guess it's not low on refrigerant.

[CirrusSR22]

^ Did you test that with the engine running and the A/C switched on? Sometimes you have to push down firmly on the gauge nozzle to get an accurate reading.

If so, it's probably a mechanical issue.

[b.u.ti-ful]

You checked the fuses and the pressure, but did you check that the fan runs when you turn on the ac?

[Viper1969]

Yep, I tested the pressure with the engine running and the AC on.

b.u.ti-ful, which fan where?

[weezer]

Something similar happened to my AC earlier this year. It was electrical.
When you turn on the a/c button, do you notice a drop in RPM or do you hear a click telling you the relay is working?
If not, it's an electrical issue. In my case a wire was frayed on the passenger towards the front and it caused a short.
Good luck with it.