A few weeks ago, my air conditioning began to blow warm. It was not a gradual thing, it was virtually instant. One minute, it was ice cold, the next minute, it was ambient temp. The heater still works fine. So I took it to a local shop, and they installed a new compressor and dryer. What do you know!!!!! It still blows warm! They say there is nothing else they will do and to take it to a dealer. Before I get screwed yet again, what should I be aware of? What could this be? Again, instantly from perfect to not working, and a brand new compressor and dryer did ZIP.

And here's some clues:

First, I can physically see and hear the compressor cycling on and off. Sure as the day is long, the compressor is functioning.

Second, it is warm from the instant you start the car. It doesn't start cold, and then warm up with the engine. At no time does cold air come out. Not when the engine is cold and not when its warmed up.

The car is a 2002 X-Type. Any advice is appreciated.

 

bikerlaw, well, based on what you are describing, you most likely have either a leak in some other part of the A/C system (this can be checked by simply connecting up a set of gauges and seeing what the pressure is in the system, any pressure and odds are you system is tight still). From there, you are most likely looking at a clog in either your condensor or your cooling coil in the dash. Hard to say at this point which one it could be.

I am about 30 minutes south of you in California, MD. So, if you ever need anything, let me know. I am always up for working on a vehicle and if you are interested, it is looking like a few of us are going to meet up this Saturday down at my place in California.

 

Thanks Thermo. Yes, I probably need your help. Definitely something could be clogged. Based on some other posts, I think one of the vent doors may also be stuck closed. If and when you may be free, please PM me and we can find a time to meet. Maybe you can look at it and give me some ideas.
Thanks, Neil

 

Neil, it is looking like we are on for Saturday morning around 9 am. So, if you want to come on down, we can get you taken care of and a look at the car. I will send you a PM with my addy. I will also include the directions as I am living in a new development and it is not on most GPS units yet.

 

OK, sounds great.

 

Was the problem solved? If yes can you please advise all as I think I may have the same problem!

Regards

Vikingdon

 

WOW!, did this turn into a nightmare!

Yes, it is solved. Let me explain what happened from day one. About three months ago I was driving the car. All of the sudden and out of nowhere, the A/C started blowing hot. Up until that second, it had worked perfect. I took it to a local mechanic. He said the compressor went bad. He replaced the dryer and the compressor. NOTHING CHANGED! He claimed the compressor was bad and installed a second compressor. Same thing, the A/C still blew cold.

I was about ready to give up and took it to a local Jaguar specialists in Richmond. He did a complete inspection, charged me $100, and claimed the second compressor was bad. I took this and the car BACK to the shop that did the initial job. The first shop said no way, and kept the car for another week....... sitting.

The first shop eventually tore the system completely apart. What they FINALLY found was that way back when the original compressor failed, it disintegrated and sent debris throughout the system. Some of that debris was getting caught in the little part that necks down to a tiny hole. I cant remember the name of the part for the life of me. But the result was, each time he installed a new compressor, and started the car, debris floated threw the system and clogged this little part. So no matter what was replaced, it just happened again!

He finally figured this out (hooray!), and flushed out the entire system. He installed the little neck-down part, a third dryer and put it back together. NOW the A/C is working perfectly. I don't know if that's your problem, but that was my problem. It was a royal pain, but its all fixed and I am happy.

Neil