Air Conditioning help needed

Old Goat · 05-28-2002, 04:13 AM

I took my 86 Carrera in over the weekend to have the A/C recharged. I purchased the car last fall and have tried to run the A/C every few weeks to keep the system in good shape. Anyway, the system had only 14ozs. of R-12 and was recharged to 39ozs. It still is not blowing cold air, and the thermostat has no effect on the temp. of the air coming from the vents. The wench inspected the system and found the (wire?) which goes from the temp. control to the evaporator not connected to anything inside the evaporator. He now wants to discharge the system and open the evaporator box and see what it is supposed to be connected too. Does this sound like a sound idea? I know Porsche A/C systems are not great, but it would be nice to get it to operate the way it was intended. Thanks for your help.

chuckr · 05-28-2002, 04:26 AM

Get new wrench !!!
wire just senses temp and is just inserted inside the box into the grid to make sure that the system does not freeze up.You do not need to exacuate the system to check this either.I'd make sure that both your fans are running, the one inside the evap box and the other under the front bumper.

stormcrow · stormcrow's Garage

How would the mechanic be able to charge the system if it wasn't working.

Check to see if the compressor is running when you turn the switch on. If it isn't, check to see if power is going to it. Next I would check the temp switch to see if it clicks when you turn it to full cooling. If it doesn't, then you have a bad switch. The wire you speak of is a temp sensing tube filled with a gas which controls the operation of the compressor to maintain the proper temp in the cabin.

The compressor needs to be running in order to charge the system. I would ask him how he did it if the compressor wasn't running after you checked it out.

Steve

Old Goat · 05-28-2002, 05:59 AM

Thanks, the compressor is working, the temp. controll switch does not click at any position, it turns with no resitance at all. Is this normal? After recharge the air at vent was only 71 degrees.
Thanks

chuckr · 05-28-2002, 06:42 PM

temp switch does not click, fan speed switch clicks, if all motors are working. evap and condensor and you are only getting 71 degrees you are either low on freon or have a bad evap/expansion valve.I highly recommend finding a reputable Porsche shop, this can get very expensive, and could even blow your compressor.

stormcrow · stormcrow's Garage

If your compressor is running then your temp sensing switch is ok. Your system may be low on refrigerant. If you don't have the proper tools to check it out, then like Chuckr said, have a service tech check it out.

Steve