Chevy & GMC Vans

A few days ago my 2003 Astro Cargo lost its A/C. I live in New Orleans and the humidity outside right now is like 100% all the time!

Thinking I might have a freon leak, I opened up the hood to re-charge my freon with one of those DIY recharge kits that I purchased from Advanced Auto and noticed my A/C compressor acting funny.

The A/C compressor was cycling on and off every few seconds. To be more precise, it would turn on for 1-2 sec and then turn off for 6-7 sec and then turn on again and keep cycling like that as long as the A/C is on.

What could this be?

Check the connection on the back side of the compressor. Disconnect the connection at the pressure switch. Run a jumper across the terminals on the wire harness side. The connection on the back side of the compressor on my Safari came loose and I lost the AC. The jumper on the pressure switch will tell you if you need the system charged.

Smiliesafari wrote:Check the connection on the back side of the compressor. Disconnect the connection at the pressure switch. Run a jumper across the terminals on the wire harness side. The connection on the back side of the compressor on my Safari came loose and I lost the AC. The jumper on the pressure switch will tell you if you need the system charged.

Okay. First, thanks for replying

Now, can I access this "back side of compressor" from the front of the van? Where is this pressure switch?

Yes, you can reach the connector on the back side of the compressor from the front of the van. It's a brail job. You can't see it. Let your fingers be your eyes. Just follow the wires. The pressure switch on my Safari (1996) is by the evaporator. It has a two wire connector.

If the compressor is cycling off and on, the switch is fine. You are low on refrigerant.

I just tried to recharge and noticed something weird.

The gauge on the refrigerant can was fluctuating from low to high. The compressor would kick on once the dial reached the high pressure zone and while the compressor is on the pressure would drop to the low side and then the compressor would cut off, causing the pressure gauge to rise again to the high pressure area.

Here is a video I took of the phenomenon.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LaIVVNr-9XU

Is this normal?

Don't know if the pressures you are seeing are out of spec. But that is normal behavior while the compressor cycles.

UPDATE:

After recharging to a respectable pressure, it was all gone by the next evening and the A/C was blowing warm air again! Yes. Next evening. There has to be a massive leak somewhere. I'll need to go buy one of those UV leak detectors and get to work.

Any places I should check first?

The seal on the compressor is the usual culprit. Looks for oil and dirt around the compressor.

UPDATE:

So after filling the AC system with leak sealer + UV dye, I was able to finally see a glimpse of the UV dye leaking from under the car with my UV light. So the dogbox was removed and here is the result:

The part circled in ORANGE is the culprit of the leak. The part I circled in GREEN was where the leak was. The foam on the part circled in orange had melted from touching the back piping underneath it causing a leak. You can see I temporarily managed to reduce the rate of leakage by using electrical tape lol.

Anyone know the name/part number of the part circled in ORANGE?

It's the ac hose assemble I think your part number is 56171 in four seasons

that's the one but I need GM's part number so I can get OE.

I called the local Chevy stealership and they said it's 15178348. Does that sound about right?

Oh and also what do yall think about using an AC hose splice kit to fix the leak? It's on the low pressure side so I really don't see a problem with using a splice kit to mend the leak but what do you think?

I think if you goto http://www.gmpartsdirect.com that you can find a pdf breakdown and GM part numbers.

Jim

astroturf wrote:I think if you goto http://www.gmpartsdirect.com that you can find a pdf breakdown an GM part numbers.

Jim

On certain parts, yes. But this part is not showing up as an illustration.

Try www.gmpartsgiant.com