Automotive Air Conditioning Information Forum (Archives)

DuaneKing on Sun August 18, 2013 6:18 PM

Year: 2007
Make: Kia
Model: Rondo
Engine Size: 2.4
Refrigerant Type: 134a
Pressure Low: 200
Pressure High: 450
Country of Origin: United States

Have a problem child in the shop... came in with no refrigerant, hooked up the machine vacuumed it down and put the right amount of refrigerant in with a uv dye inject. Went to fire the vehicle up and the compressor kicks on and off rapidly, problem is when it does kick on for the short second that it does the a/c fan wont turn on and the pressures sky rocket. I haven't verified if the cooling fan works. It was a last minute job on saturday before we closed so im trying to do some research before i back to work on this vehicle. Im thinking the compressor is bad or the fan...of course if the fan is bad the car would overheat, that i haven't verified yet. My question is if the compressor is just cycling for a quick second, is it not enough to get the a/c fan to engage? As in does the compressor need to run longer then 5 seconds or etc for the fan to turn on, or should the ac fan kick on the second the compressor fires. Any advice? my specialty is in emission/driveability repair and not so much a/c. here in las vegas its always over 105 degrees. is there a general guideline for what the low side and high side readings should be, 45 on low and 250 on high? or more of 60 low 300 high range. any advice or tips would help out thank you, and yes i know i have bad punctuation and grammar.

mk378 on Sun August 18, 2013 6:46 PM

Pressure can build very quickly when the condenser fan doesn't work. This shows that the compressor is working. Troubleshoot the fan system. Also when a car arrives with zero pressure, there must be a significant leak.

DuaneKing on Sun August 18, 2013 6:48 PM

So the fan should kick on the same time the compressor engages correct?

mk378 on Sun August 18, 2013 7:47 PM

Either that or it may be pressure activated, in which case it should start at around 250 psi high side.