My car's fading A/C

[ezmobee]

I have a 2000 Buick Regal and my air conditioning isn't working up to snuff. Really hasn't been too great all summer. The problem is that is does work. It eventually gets quite cold. Cold enough that I sometimes even turn it down a bit. However, my problem is that is takes forever to get cold. It takes like 10 minutes or more to really get working. I tried having it charged and the garaged called me up and asked my why I was having them do that since it only took a tiny little bit. Fortunately they didn't charge me for it and it actually marginally helped the cooling. Other info is that my compressor is whining a bit. Is my compressor going? Or is there some other part that is failing?

 

[mrfixitman40]

Re: My car's fading A/C

we would need to hook the guages up and get readings . could be air in the system , bad compressor, or a bad drier not removing the moisture. have you had any other ac work done before on it . if they added die could be to much oil in the system. just my $.02

 

[ezmobee]

Re: My car's fading A/C

I have only had the car for the past 3 years. I never had any work done to the system. It worked fine last year but this year not as well. I guess I'm actually hoping it's the compressor because of the whining noise it makes I know the bearings are going bad anyway.

 

[mrfixitman40]

Re: My car's fading A/C

a bad compressor is definately possible I would also recommend a new drier and orfice tube when you have it done

 

[ezmobee]

Re: My car's fading A/C

Thanks for the advice. I guess I'll get out my checkbook this spring

 

[moterboat]

Re: My car's fading A/C

I agree with mr fixit, put gauges on to check pressures,and thermometer in vent to see what the actual temp. is coming out the vent,may be over charged.. dirty condenser or restricted condenser,condenser fan defective..
has to be tested..does that model have a cabin air filter??

 

[ezmobee]

Re: My car's fading A/C

I have a cabin air filter but it was changed this spring.

 

[whywhyzed]

Re: My car's fading A/C

Some basics you can check without paying anyone:
belt or clutch could be slipping.
Air flow through the condenser could be obstructed by pollen, dirt, plastic bag, mud etc. and definitely check the fan operation as moterboat suggested above.

Another possibility is the water valve for the heat is not closing.
If it's not shutting, can make a lot of work for the A/C... 10,000BTU heat vs. 10,000BTU A/C sorta battle going on...

 

[ezmobee]

Re: My car's fading A/C

I think we can rule out that it's fighting the heater. Since it gets colder after about 10 minutes or so.

Is the condenser in th radiator?

 

[Skinnywater]

Re: My car's fading A/C

The symptoms suggest a sluggish blend-air door.

Turn the AC on and in 3-4 minutes grab hold of the low pressure tubing/hose that comes from the compressor. If it is very cold to the touch the refrigeration system is working correctly. If in the mean time the air coming from the vents don't closely match that temperature you felt from that hose, then the problem could be in the blend-air door position or a temperature sensor.

If the problem appears to be in the ventilation system as in a blend-air problem then the problem can be as simple as a split vacuum hose rather then a broken or displaced hose. Or the vacuum pot has a slplit in the diaphram.

 

[ezmobee]

Re: My car's fading A/C

This could be a possibilty especially since I have "climate control". I'll check that out. Thanks!

 

[ezmobee]

Re: My car's fading A/C

I have to give props to Sninnywater. He nailed it on the head. I was driving home from work on Thursday and it was hot so even though the A/C isn't much good I put it on anyway. I was reaching over to the passenger side to aim the vents more in my direction and the air coming out of them was COLD! So it looks like I have a "sluggish blend door" but only on one side! So I guess it's good that my A/C system is still working but I hate to think what they'll have to do to fix the blend door. If it involved digging into the dash I don't even want to think about it.

 

[KRS]

Re: My car's fading A/C

I guess I'm actually hoping it's the compressor because of the whining noise it makes I know the bearings are going bad anyway.

This came out in the second post? Important information!

KRS

 

[thefairlaneman]

Re: My car's fading A/C

Best bet is to have it checked with guages and the entire system looked at. There are ALOT of things that can cause this.AC repair is hard for a DIY project .

 

[ezmobee]

Re: My car's fading A/C

Oh I definitely don't plan to DIY. I was just trying to figure out how much it will cost me. The car has 126k miles on it and I'm trying to decide whether it's worth a pricey repair. It's in excellent running condition otherwise but it does have a whiney PS pump, a whiney A/C compressor and the blend door thing. Since they stopped making Regals in '04 I would like to get one more. Hopefully an '04 GS. It will be my 4th Regal.