wondering if there is a relay or a fuse for the a/c compressor? it doesn't kick on when i turn on my a/c.

 

is it possibly empty of refrigerant? give the schrader valve a quick push with a small screwdriver to see if it has a charge. it should give a high pressure mist. just keep your face away LOL could be your pressure cycling switch also.

 

well nothing came out of that valve lol so could that be the whole issue with my compressor? also, i'm sure it's empty because of some sort of leak too.

 

yeah its empty. gotta get it checked out to see whats leaking. if it has been recently serviced, it may have had a fluorescent dye injected, and it will show up real well with a uv blacklight. otherwise, look around the hoses and condenser (rad closest to the front) for any sign of leaking. if u dont see anything, then you will pretty well have to take it to an auto a/c shop to get it leak checked.

 

couldn't i just recharge it and see what happens, if the leak shows up or if has just never been serviced or something? i'm almost thinking somebody had the engine out of it and never did anything with the a/c after they put it back in. not sure though.

 

You can, but if it leaks now, its just going to leak out again, and thats money down the drain. you can have a shop pull a vacuum on the system and that will tell you quick if it has a leak.

 

did the r134 retrofit and charged the system, and it works now. it took 2 can fulls though. and it could probably use more. how much does the a/c system usually take if it's completely empty?

 

It depends. There should be a service decal or something under the hood that lists how much refrigerant is supposed to be in there. Typically, somewhere in the 2lb. range.

I was told that on R134a retrofits, the system will only need 60%-70% of the R12 charge.

I would err a little on the over charged side if you can't weigh how much gas you're sticking in there. The system needs enough refrigerant to carry the lube around.