My compressor will kick in and run but it just blows hot air. it is showing full when i hook the guages to it and it will not take any coolant.any advice would be appreciated.

 

*If the system in has never been serviced or not been serviced in a long time*, I would do a thorough overhaul (new oil, flush out system thoroughly... read - until it comes clean is best, new o rings and o-tube, etc.) You can do everything yourself with basic tools + a compressor, except evacuating and vacuuming the system. You can take it to a shop to do those (or rent/bum a pump) then check it for leaks and charge it up yourself (since you've got some gauges). Although it might sound like overkill, if it's never been done the system probably needs it (this will mightily extend the life of the compressor) and it will more than likely fix the problem and make it alot colder too.

I'm going to take a stab and say considering the age of the vehicle the evap, condensor or both are clogged with crud causing poor physical state conversion. If the condensor is blocking up, it might need to be replaced because the parallel types can't be flushed very efficiently.You could just try it as is with therest of the systemflushed out good and if it doesn't work, you're only out time + cost of coolant/maybe someoilbecause you'llhave everything fixed but that.

There's a good video on advance auto parts website of an overhaul procedure and autozone has a dvd on it for $7. If you are feeling really cheap you can save your accumulator by putting it in the oven on low for several hours to dry out the dessicant (just like you'd do for a dessicant can in a gun safe) then put it back on just before getting it evacuated. You can flush it out with A/C flush prior to drying to get it clean. I'm cheap so that's why I did, but you can get a new one of course too.

When I flushed mine, I used flush several times, then swiched to very hot water, each time blowing it out with a compressor, til it came clean. This took about 20 times because the evap was VERY, VERY dirty. My compressor had already failed.

Now it's just above freezing. Edit: this day it was about 80'F outside. I had charged it when it was only about 60'F outside. It would be possible to get even more charge in it safely if the ambient temp was higher (or I heated the system artificially, like some shops do, well the good ones at least ) giving even more cooling capacity.



After doing mine, it seems easier than spot diagnosing problems that are accruing because of a need for general maintenance.

Just my opinion.

 

Thanks for the advice.The compressor appears to have beenchanged by the previous owner who admitted to me that he had "fixed" a leak .I seriously doubt anything but the compressor itself was replaced.