Cadillac Owners Forum banner
1 - 7 of 7 Posts

· Registered
92 Seville and a 74 cadillac Eldorado Convertible
Joined
·
42 Posts
Discussion Starter · #1 ·
I have a 1992 Seville 4.9 litre. When I turn on the Auto A/C controls the message board reads very low refrigerant compressor turned off. I have checked the low side of A/C and the gauge reads that it is full to the correct level to operate the compressor. A/c always worked fine. I had changed the clutch and everything was fine.A/C system was never opened. I drove the car to AZ and during the trip I had the same message as above. I turned off the a/c and let the car sit. I had gone back out to check the a/c again and it worked fine. It seems after an extended period of time the A/C will then display the low refrigerant message and turn off the compressor. Now the A/c will not turn on at all anymore. there are no leaks to found as it is full of freon. This vehicle has been converted to r134 by a professionel shop.All other functions of climate control work fine. Any help or suggestions greatly apprerciated. :bonkers:
 

· Super Moderator
2010 DTS
Joined
·
89,562 Posts
If it's telling you that you are low on refrigerant, changes are it is.
How do you know that the system has enough refrigerant? Did you hook up a gauge set and check the high and low side pressures. If all you used was one of those cheap low side only gauges that come with a can of refrigerant, that is useless.

P.S. You didn't say, but I assume you know it must be checked at idle or slightly above (1500 RPM).
 

· Registered
1998 eldorado NON touring
Joined
·
34 Posts
first clear the codes - either by on board diagnostic or removing negative battery cable for a short while.

then start the car and hook up the gauge and then turn the ac system on when it should try to kick on before it realizes it does not have enough coolant. At that point the gauge will show you that it is in fact low on coolant. Simply get the amount needed (should be in back of vehicle manual) of r13a coolant and gauge with trigger. follow the instructions and what you will notice is that the compressor will turn on and the gauge read low - then it will turn off because of lack of coolant and will read high (pressure) then back and forth back and forth - the whole time this is happening you should be adding coolant as per the instructions on the bottle. After awhile and it will take longer than you would think the compressor will finally kick on and stay on for longer and longer periods of time as more and more r13a can get into the system. - keep going until you reach the correct pressure.
If you want to find out if you have a leak get a can of the r13a that has the chemical which will glow under black light and leave the ac on for awhile and shine a UV light to try and find the leak.

hope this helps
 

· Super Moderator
2010 DTS
Joined
·
89,562 Posts
I think you have a misunderstanding of how the system works. The amount of "refrigerant" in the system has no affect on compressor cycle times. It WILL disable it if too low. Compressor cycling is controlled by the A/C refrigerant low temp sensor. It turns the clutch off at at temperature of 28 deg. Fahrenheit to prevent freeze up and on again at 50 Deg. to maintain the evaporator at a temperature between those two ranges. Obviously, cycle times will vary with ambient temperature.
 

· Registered
1998 eldorado NON touring
Joined
·
34 Posts
you are correct. I do not know completely how the system works - I just know that when mine said low refrigerant it was cycling on and off quickly when I reset the codes to add more. I hooked up a can of coolant with a trigger gauge and it was cycling on and off rather quickly - I would say 5 seconds on then off until the coolant level rose (took awhile because I would only add coolant while it cycled on at which point it would stay on for a longer period of time and off for a longer period of time until I reached the correct pressure. I apologize for explaining it incorrectly however, When I added coolant that is how it went.
So I guess in essence all I was really saying was that more than likely he is low on coolant.
 

· Super Moderator
2010 DTS
Joined
·
89,562 Posts
I think you mean refrigerant, but in essence you are correct, he is low. That MIGHT play a small part in the cycling as the evaporator may not be able to maintain the appropriate temperatures if the refrigerant levels get too low.
 

· Registered
2006 XJ, 2000 Eldorado ESC--total loss :(
Joined
·
1,180 Posts
Depending on the ambient temperature, the system may short cycle based on the low pressure cutoff switch with a low charge. Usually only in cooler ambient temperatures--the low charge results in the compressor pulling the low side down to the trip point very quickly, then back on, then off, etc. On a hot day, it would likely run continuously and you'd get no cold air.

But regardless... I agree, the low side gauge refill kits are asking for trouble. You have no idea what the system is really doing, or how much refrigerant it really needs.
 
1 - 7 of 7 Posts
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top