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AC and overheating problem
Sent to Car Experts August 23 07:15 PM

I have a 2002 Monte Carlo. I recently had the AC recharged. Afterwards, some type of smoke or vapor blew through the center vents. The car was not overheating, at this point. From then on, the car would take about 10-15 minutes as I drove it for the car to even start to blow cool air, as hot air would be blowing. When the car is in park, stop or idle, no cool air is blowing and the other day the car was overheating. This problem does not happen all of the time with the car. I took it to a mechanic around the corner while this was happening and he said the low pressure cut out switch was the problem. Could the low pressure cut out switch keep the cooling fan from operating properly causing the AC not to come out when the car is in park and what could be the cause of it happening sometimes, but not all of the time? For example, the car would mainly act up in the afternoon during the hottest part of the day.

Customer (name blocked for privacy)
Status:  Closed   Value: $30
Info Request
August 23 7:29 PM (14 minutes and 7 seconds later)
         
REPLIED to Info RequestCheck Mark
Hello Rachel, does the vehicle run fine and not overheat with the a/c left off?
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BOBBY -- Technician/ Service Advisor -- 100% Positive Feedback on 1041 Car Accepts
ASE MASTER CERTIFIED, CALIFORNIA EPA AIR CONDITIONING CERTIFIED, AA DEGREE AUTOMOTIVE/DIESEL TECH
Reply
August 24 8:12 AM (12 hours and 42 minutes and 16 seconds later)
         
Reply to BOBBY's Post: The car only overheated the one time. My guess, the cooling fan was not running while the car was in park. The AC had always been on in the car being that I thought the AC was the issue. The funny thing right now the car is being tested and nothing is happening. The AC is working fine as the dealership suggests and the car is not overheating. I told them to run the car in idle in the afternoon when it is hot, may be that has something to do with it? Everyday I ran the car in the morning, I did not use the AC, but in the afternoon, when it was hot this problem would occur and would take the car about 20 minutes, driving it for it to start pumping cool air. The air would be hot in the meantime. If the car were to sit in idle it would not cool off at all, you could hear the fan or the compressor ticking, I don't know if that makes sense to you, but it would tick on and tick off, I couldn't hear the fan running and just the other day while it was sitting in idle, the car overheated. The problem on top of it, is trying to reproduce the problem for the dealership. They told me when I first contacted them about the problem to bring it down when it happens. The dealership is 20 minutes away by the time I would get there, everything would be working fine. I took a picture of the temp. gauge in the car as proof that the car overheated. I had it towed down there. Now it is sitting at the shop with them trying to make the problem happen with the car.
Customer (name blocked for privacy)
Info Request
August 24 5:06 PM (8 hours and 54 minutes and 53 seconds later)
         
REPLIED to Info RequestCheck Mark
Do you happen to know where the a/c compressor is? If so while the engine is running, with the a/c on, tell me if the compressor stays on or turns off and on.
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BOBBY -- Technician/ Service Advisor -- 100% Positive Feedback on 1041 Car Accepts
ASE MASTER CERTIFIED, CALIFORNIA EPA AIR CONDITIONING CERTIFIED, AA DEGREE AUTOMOTIVE/DIESEL TECH
Reply
August 24 7:35 PM (2 hours and 28 minutes and 11 seconds later)
         
Reply to BOBBY's Post: I got back from the dealership a little while ago. They could not reproduce the problem, so I went down and when I started it, behold the problem arose. The AC and the fan were not running while the car was in idle. The compressor would turn off and on as the engine was running. They ran diagnostics on it. The computer came back that everything was OK, even though they hooked a high and low pressure gauge up to the compressor(I think), and the gauges reading came out incredibly high. I was with them while they did this.They determined it to have a bad ECM. They changed the ECM, thank God it is covered under my extended warranty and everything seems to be fine. I will have to check it tomorrow afternoon to make sure the problem was a result of a bad ECM. Thank you very much for your time. I am just glad I didn't get stuck with a problematic car, towing charges, and rental car fees, which would have cost me a fortune if I hadn't gone down and the car hadn't acted up.
Customer (name blocked for privacy)
Answer
August 24 7:38 PM (3 minutes and 37 seconds later)
         
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BOBBY -- Technician/ Service Advisor -- 100% Positive Feedback on 1041 Car Accepts
ASE MASTER CERTIFIED, CALIFORNIA EPA AIR CONDITIONING CERTIFIED, AA DEGREE AUTOMOTIVE/DIESEL TECH
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