sandm849

Hey all, new to the forum and just wanted to get some peoples input on my issue and hopefully some common problems as I usually work on fords. My girlfriend has an 05 equinox with about 60k on it. She said to me the a/c isn't working. I decided to take a look at it today since I had some spare time. The blend door is working b/c when I switch it from hot to cold there is a definite difference. The compressor is constantly engaged with zero cycling. My pressures are at 70 low side and 145 high side with no changes since there is no cycling. The air that is coming out of the vents is ambient temp. Any sugguestions would be great. I was thinking that there may be a restriction on the low side being as the pressures are higher than normal since there is certainly freon in the system. And also it did work as it was supposed to last year.

thanks all.

weekendbum

05 Equinox has a Ford scroll compressor, the control valve gets clogged and needs replaced - read this forum- My Ford Freestyle .com • View topic - warm a/c while driving in the city part available at www.acpartshouse.com for $40

educk

I have an '05 as well and the A/C doesn't seem to cool when idling. It gets cool when driving though. Low-side pressure was 45psi when I checked it. Could this be caused by that control valve as well?

I'm not about to replace it myself (only because of having to evacuate the whole system) but at least I'll have an idea if I take it somewhere.

weekendbum

educk, you will have to buy the valve online and take it to your mechanic as they will know nothing about how to change it, print off the posting at My Ford Freestyle .com • View topic - warm a/c while driving in the city to show them what you want done to it. They will just want to replace the whole compressor , but all that is bad is the valve in the back end of it! Or have them recover the Freon out of it ,you take it home change the valve and then take it back to them and have them pull a vacuum on it and recharge it.

netmessys

Hey guys.. thanks for the info here.. I ordered the compressor valve.. changeed this morning.... and its really works.. for now!! yupiiii... i save almost $120 bucks..
Just take out the freon.. changed the valve, vacum.. for a wile... add oil and freon back againg... Vuala... working nice.. blowing cold air in parking or idl speed !!!

educk

I finally was fed up enough with the mediocre cooling after a couple hot weeks this summer that I ordered the valve from techchoiceparts.com (great place to order from, btw, came in 2 or 3 days and shipping wasn't too terrible) and resolved to replace it one way or another. In reading about other people's experiences replacing this in various vehicles, it appears that sometimes you might get the spring or another little plastic piece with it, but techchoiceparts.com just ships it with a replacement gasket. Possibly if I had done a bit more shopping first, I would have chosen one of those kits instead since it kind of makes sense to replace at least the spring too while you're in there, but someone in another forum had linked directly to this particular part so I knew it at least was the right one :-)

I remembered a place I used to take my car that was convenient to my work at the time, that was knowledgeable about A/C issues, and asked them if they would be willing to evacuate the freon and then recharge it. Sure, no problem they said... and then when I got the valve and looked into the actual replacement and saw how easy it would be, I just asked them to replace it while they had it evacuated, which would save me a trip back. They were a little hesitant, not having done any diagnostic work on it and not ever having heard of this little valve issue, but being the mom & pop "customer is always right" operation that they are, agreed to try it once I showed them the cover (on the '05, for anyone looking, it's on the end of the compressor which is right next to the oil filter and is roughly diamond-shaped, a couple inches long) and told them how simple it is.

When all was said and done it just cost me the 1 hour labor they would have charged to do the evacuate & recharge, and it seems to be working great. Wish I had done this 2 years ago but I was a bit put off by the need to evacuate the freon, meaning I needed some help :-)