Hello Jaguar Forum and experts. I purchased my "new to me" 2003 Jaguar X-type 2.5L a few months ago and I love the car. She currently has 132.000 miles on her and she does have some issues. So,since I live in south Florida and it's summer (sweat sweat sweat) I thought I start with the A/C issue first.
So I noticed after I bought the car that the A/C blows really SUPER ICE COLD when I was driving and the faster I drove the colder the air blew, but when I was at a stop light the air blew warm (but still colder than outside temperature). Also, to mention that the air blew colder on the passenger side vents and warmer on the driver side. I hooked up a simple pressure gauge (the one that came with a can of refrigerant) and it was reading 90 with the car off and even higher (to the max of the gauge) with the car in idle. So I was reading on here about the pressure regulator valve in the compressor and thought I was on to something, but wanted to buy a good set of gauges to get a reading of the low and high side before I tackle the valve reversal. In the meantime until my gauges arrived in the mail (cheaper online) it now blows hot air no matter if I was stopped or driving 80mph on the highway.
Here is what I know so far:
Fans are spinning, compressor clutch is spinning and engages when I turn on the A/C, no lines freeze up or get cold at all, no codes when I hook up my OBD reader, the blower works fine and when I hit the circulation button I can hear the blower blowing harder, at 85°f ambient air temperature with the A/C on Max I get 60 on the low side and 100 on the high side at idle (710 rpm) and 22 on the low side and 115 on the high side at 1500 rpm and 88/88 when the engine is off with my good gauge. I also noticed some green around a bolt on the bottom of the compressor (no drips - just green discoloration).
What could it be? Compressor died or still just the regulator valve reversal needed?
Thanks for your help in advance.....

 

There is a tiny overpressure valve on the manifold that bolts to the compressor. It looks like a small bolt with a recess and tiny hole in the middle. I had one fail and leak slowly. It left green on the compressor. Also your gauges are reading low pressure. Probably you are low on Freon. Pressures are highly dependent on ambient temperature, but I would expect higher pressure in a FL summer. More like 110/110 at rest, maybe something more along the lines of 250/40 running.

The fact your earlier temperatures varied with engine speed (cruising vs. parked) indicates low Freon as well.

 

Jaguar actually has a fix for this.
I also had the problem of warm AC when the car was stationary this fixed it.
Print out the PDF and take it to a shop that does AC work
and yes it also sounds like you may have a leak in the system so when they do the work have them add some dye into the lines and then they can check for leaks.

 

Sure sounds low on 134a. Mine leaks slowly. Has done so for years.

Running my car at at 1500RPM, I service it to: low side 20-30, high side 250-300 depending on how hot the day is. Hotter=higher pressures.

Static pressure while not running means nothing.

 

If it is low on 134a, the compressor clutch will not spin.

 

I had this same problem on my '04 when driving would be cold and when stopped would get warm. Put some gauges on and with the clutch engaged was reading 70 psi on suction side. New the comp was bad, replaced the compressor dryer filter and a orifice filter on the high side line, vacuumed and recharged working perfect now

 

UPDATE:
I added a bit of freon today just to see what happens and this is what I get now at 85°F outside temperature:
Low 30 / high side 145 @ 1500 rpm and 110/110 @ idle (710 rpm)
It now blows 101°F at the vents (I must say the engine was pretty warmed up before I did this). It now blows hot air not matter if I drive or stop the car.
I also turned on the heat and it blows 149°F on the hottest heat setting.
Now I am wondering if the pressure valve reversal in the Technical Bulletin would even fix my problem or If I have a different issue?
Any suggestions?

 

Have you considered getting the fault codes read? There are a number of Bxxxx type codes that relate specifically to faults in the AC system, including, of course, the various sensors. None of these codes will light the MIL and they require a Jaguar enabled scanner to find them. Obviously a dealer could read them for a price, but a good Jaguar independent could also. The DIY AutoEginuity scanner with Jaguar enhancement would also do the job as would Mongoose etc.

 

astromorg / JensFL: Thermo describes how to display error codes thru the instrument cluster. I don't know if this works for AC codes, but it's worth a try. Here's the thread with Thermo's trick....

https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/x...sg-ctr-125457/

 

Hi Astromorg, I have a MS509 OBD II scanner and it didn't show any codes with this scanner.
Thanks dwclapp, I will try to use thermo's way to see what codes I will get.

 

Update: so I did the compressor valve & spring reversal as described in the Technical Bulletin and installed a new orifice tube while I was at it (the whole job took about 30 minutes and was relatively easy to do) then vacuumed the system and refilled it with the proper amount of freon and I can't believe it.....the A/C blows COLD air !!!!!! Unbelievable !

It still blows slightly warmer on the driver side, but super cold on the passenger side. I will tackle this problem next weekend. Some vent door just be stuck 1/2 closed somewhere....

 

Note: there are no moveable flaps that direct the airflow left or right! The warm-one-side/cold-other-side is usually the result of an undercharge of refrigerant, but as you've just filled with the right amount, it could be a partial blockage in the circuit acting as a second expansion orifice.

Was there any debris in the filter?

 

Put it on recirculate and check to make sure the door/flap behind the cabin filter is closed.