Hi folks, I hope someone can help figure this one out, it's a tough one.
I just bought a 91 auto. During the pre-purchase test drive I noticed that the AC was not cold enough (blowing midly cool air) and the whole fan system shut down intermittently(HVAC panel lights still on, but no fan blowing) during the drive. The seller agreed to fix this problem and his mechanic relace the HVAC control panel with a used one and also top up the freon. When I took delivery of the car the intermittent shut down problem was gone but it still didn't blow cold enough. I checked the sight glass on the receiver dryer and it showed foamy bubbles. The seller also stated that he replaced the coil recently. I called the mechanic and he claims that the problem is the evaporator hose which may be leaking, he said that it was not the factory hose in the car because someone replaced it with a custom hose setup.
I took the car to my own mechanic today who detect a leak by the right front condensor. He replaced the o-ring, vacum out all the old freon and add in fresh freon. During this procedue he stated there were no further leaks because the ac system was holding the pressure (I'm not sure if he as referring to the vacum procedure or when he added more freon) He also cleaned out the two front condersor fins since they were very dirty and was worried that it may not disspate the heat that well. After he restarted the car with new freon it blew cool but i still felt it didn't blow ice cold as I would expect from a Japanese AC system. After a half a hour of running, it blew midly cool again, same as before, also the sight glass show foamy bubbles, so I guess there is another leak. When I take it on the highway it blows a little cooler then when idling still.
I can understand the leaks draining the freon, but i can't figure out why it didn't blow cold when it was full of freon. Both mechanic said the compressor is fine. The first mechanic said the coil and evaporator is fine and still claim it is the hose.
Could it be a stuck expansion valve or some restriction in the system? Besides the compressor, evaporator or coil, what else can affect the system to not be cold enough?
-There is no noticable difference in temprature from both side
-The fan control works
-it can not get out of the auto mode, no way of disabling auto mode
-I did the diagnostic check and it show the defroster symbol which the guide shows to be a bad ambient temperature sensor.
Btw, this car has stock brakes with meaty pads still on them and I think the stopping power is subpar. When you step on it, it reaches a point where it will not go any further down and the braking power does not increase anymore. It seems like there is no progressive feel to them after a certain point, it feels like stepping on a piece of wood sometimes. My mechanic said the brakes were ok. Maybe I'm just used to Porsche brakes.
Any comments much appreciated.
I just bought a 91 auto. During the pre-purchase test drive I noticed that the AC was not cold enough (blowing midly cool air) and the whole fan system shut down intermittently(HVAC panel lights still on, but no fan blowing) during the drive. The seller agreed to fix this problem and his mechanic relace the HVAC control panel with a used one and also top up the freon. When I took delivery of the car the intermittent shut down problem was gone but it still didn't blow cold enough. I checked the sight glass on the receiver dryer and it showed foamy bubbles. The seller also stated that he replaced the coil recently. I called the mechanic and he claims that the problem is the evaporator hose which may be leaking, he said that it was not the factory hose in the car because someone replaced it with a custom hose setup.
I took the car to my own mechanic today who detect a leak by the right front condensor. He replaced the o-ring, vacum out all the old freon and add in fresh freon. During this procedue he stated there were no further leaks because the ac system was holding the pressure (I'm not sure if he as referring to the vacum procedure or when he added more freon) He also cleaned out the two front condersor fins since they were very dirty and was worried that it may not disspate the heat that well. After he restarted the car with new freon it blew cool but i still felt it didn't blow ice cold as I would expect from a Japanese AC system. After a half a hour of running, it blew midly cool again, same as before, also the sight glass show foamy bubbles, so I guess there is another leak. When I take it on the highway it blows a little cooler then when idling still.
I can understand the leaks draining the freon, but i can't figure out why it didn't blow cold when it was full of freon. Both mechanic said the compressor is fine. The first mechanic said the coil and evaporator is fine and still claim it is the hose.
Could it be a stuck expansion valve or some restriction in the system? Besides the compressor, evaporator or coil, what else can affect the system to not be cold enough?
-There is no noticable difference in temprature from both side
-The fan control works
-it can not get out of the auto mode, no way of disabling auto mode
-I did the diagnostic check and it show the defroster symbol which the guide shows to be a bad ambient temperature sensor.
Btw, this car has stock brakes with meaty pads still on them and I think the stopping power is subpar. When you step on it, it reaches a point where it will not go any further down and the braking power does not increase anymore. It seems like there is no progressive feel to them after a certain point, it feels like stepping on a piece of wood sometimes. My mechanic said the brakes were ok. Maybe I'm just used to Porsche brakes.
Any comments much appreciated.
