a/c/ help
 

Just added on can of r134a to my empty system. I started the car, put the air on high and emptied the can into the system. The car ran funny for a few seconds and stalled and now it won't start.

any ideas?

TIA

pull the fuse for the a/c and see if it'll start.

No it deosn't. It sounds like the battery is drained though. I tried to start it before pulling hte fuse and it cranked slowly a few seconds and then got weaker. I then pulled the fuse and it cranked the same way. Very weak. I am getting more then a click now though.

Could be just a coincidence that your battery is going.

Could be a short somewhere...

Hook a multimeter in serial with the battery and see how many milliamps you are drawing. DON'T TRY TO START THE CAR!

You may have to move the key to the "accessory" position and back to see the draw.

Have a multimeter what do you mean in serial?

Just jumped the car and it is running. started right up

Ran for about 15 minutes and died. Seems dead, not even a click when I try to start it.

Sounds like your altenator is bad.

is there a way to tell for sure? Need car by sunday

Battery is completely dead. I would unhook my battery cables and put a charger on the battery. Then put the amp meter in to see what the current draw is. Hook one side of the multimeter to the positive post of the battery using aligator clips and the other side to the positive battery cable while it is NOT attached to the battery and read the meter to see how many amps you are drawing. Document that and then put the a/c fuse back in and read again. Let us know both numbers. As Legion already said...please do NOT try and start the car in this configuration.

Here's the deal. I jumped the car and it started. I noticed the gauge on the dash read less then 12 volts where it used to read more then 12 volts. When i disconnected the jumper cables the gauge went down to Zero. Does this mean the alternator is bad? Or could it still mean a bad battery?

Could be either one or it could be an a/c clutch drawing a huge amount of power. If you pulled the a/c fuse and the battery still drained, then that pretty much eliminates the a/c clutch. Next thing to try is see if the battery holds a charge. You can take it to the FLAP and they will charge it and test it for you. If it checks good, then put it back in and test the current draw. If the alternator is bad, I think a red light stays on while it's running. Since the alternator is more difficult to remove than the battery, check the battery first, then current drain, then alternator. That's how I would do it anyway.

To check currnet drain you put a voltmeter between the positive terminal and the positive cable and turn ignition to acc?

check the belt for the alternator and the a/c. Did something happen to it when the R134 charge went in and allowed the a/c to kick on?

Jon

when you filled the a/c system, are you sure you didn't jiggle a wire on your alternator at all? I'd check the connections there.....

Dont' think I juggled anywires. was nowhere near any.

Battery was dead so brought it to Autozone who charged it and tested it and said it was good. Brought battery home put it in car and drove back to Autozone for them to check the alternator. They said the alternator was putting out 11.0 volts and 25.6 amps. I made them check it again with the fuse to the a/c out and came up with the same values. Is this right? If not I need an alternator. If they are correct values what's next?

By the way the gauge in the car reads about 10 volts.

that seems mighty low...

your gague reads what your alt. is putting out..... 11 volts is not enough to charge the battery. time to get that thing replaced or repaired :)

Will take it to a place by me that i got a starter for the car. I think they rebuild starters/alternators... How much of a pain is it to get out?

Not _too_ bad. For a nice procedure see
www.clarks-garage.com

Sounds like an alternator or wiring problem to me. Check the alternator wiring. It runs from the alternator to the positive terminal of the starter motor. Make sure it is connected and isn't badly corroded at the ends. If the wiring checks out, then it's probably the alternator. That said it could simply be the voltage regulator, which is the first thing I would change before rebuilding the alternator.

Is the voltage regulator part of the alternator. Woudl a place the rebuilds alternators be able to rebuild the regulator also?