Thread: A/C not working at idle...any ideas?

I'm going to grab a thermometer and check the actual output temps at the center console vents and see what they actually are but it seems to be around ambient temp coming out at idle which is not acceptable.

I'm taking it back in on Thursday to the guy that recharged it and put the new line in, but I wanted to be prepared to answer questions, etc. as to why the A/C wouldn't work at idle and works fine while its under load cruising down the road.

Previous owner said that the A/C blew ice cold, so the new line and recharge should have corrected this.

Any ideas for me?

I've never been in a Sentra that blew ice cold at idle in hot weather.

Truth

It wasn't even cold. At all. It was almost hot air.

I grabbed the kitchen thermometer and stuck it in the vent. We'll see what it blows at idle tomorrow.

Is your ac fan working?

Is your idle kicking up when you're turning the a/c on while at idle? What happens when you give it a touch more revs to bring it up to 1200rpm? My car as well has issues with getting the idle up high enough to kick the compressor on. For the most part I am fine with it as I don't want heat soak. Most of the time I'm going again before it gets hot inside. However, on the really hot days at a long light I'll give it a touch of throttle to kick it back on.

When you recharge, you absolutely have to purge the system with a vacuum source. If that hasn't been done, there is water vapor in the lines ruining things at idle for you.

false

You're right, it's not water vapor, it is liquid water that is the issue. Sorry. The vacuum is to evaporate the water in the system. Liquid water is incompressible and severely lowers the efficiency of the system. That's why an A/C system has a "dryer" to begin with. To trap any tiny bit of water that might get into the system.

theres a number of this to check....

1. is the condenser fan working properly (speed or rotation)?
2. as said earlier does ur ac up the rpm at idle when its on to say 1k?
3. is the evap filter dirty or the evap needs to be cleaned?
is the system fully charged?