A\C on, soft popping behind the console?

[jawn101]

Could be, you should know by now that anything's possible.... Diagnosis by sound is hard enough when you're actually hearing the sound though, so diagnosis by onomatopoeic description is nearly impossible.

[Kenny_Z]

Yeah, I thought maybe it someone else had heard the same sound before they may have had an idea of what to check.

[Notifier]

I hear a sound, don't know if it's the same one you are describing, while the AC is running. Best way I can describe it is someone taking a small mallet and tapping lightly on the bottom of a metal coffee can. Sounds like it's coming from behind or under the seats. Very faint and intermittent, have to have the radio off to hear it. AC runs fine from what I can tell.

[jawn101]

I hear a sound, don't know if it's the same one you are describing, while the AC is running. Best way I can describe it is someone taking a small mallet and tapping lightly on the bottom of a metal coffee can. Sounds like it's coming from behind or under the seats. Very faint and intermittent, have to have the radio off to hear it. AC runs fine from what I can tell.

I'd bet you what you're hearing is the compressor clutch kicking on and off.

[Kenny_Z]

I think you're right Jawn. I finally had some time to put a cheap gauge I have on the low pressure side and this is what I found.



I thought the popping was too frequent to be the compressor but it matches up to this perfectly. I'm guessing this means I'm low on freon?

[jawn101]

I think you're right Jawn. I finally had some time to put a cheap gauge I have on the low pressure side and this is what I found.

I thought the popping was too frequent to be the compressor but it matches up to this perfectly. I'm guessing this means I'm low on freon?

I'm not an A/C expert so hopefully someone like Ron can chime in on why it might cycle too much. If you were really low on freon though, the compressor shouldn't engage at all. Something else may be up here. Does it blow cold?

[DMCMW Dave]

If you were really low on freon though, the compressor shouldn't engage at all. Something else may be up here. Does it blow cold?

Somewhere between "full" and "empty" is "low". "low" is where it will cycle too often. "empty" is where it won't cycle at all. Well, not really empty, but pretty close.

[Kenny_Z]

Cooler but not cold. I haven't stuck a thermometer in there but it can't be less than a 5 degree difference from the ambient air. I get more relief by rolling down the windows.

[Ron]

If you don't know a good AC person, you can probably get a set of decent gauges for the price of a top off...

[Kenny_Z]

The AC guys I took it to before didn't do a bad job but I think I'll try to pick up the tool at harbor freight so I can learn a little about the system. Thanks everyone.