AC won't work?

[rayman1946]

My 2005 G&K Smart Car's AC won't work. The switches on dash light up, engine idle speeds up, cooling fan runs, but compressor won't kick in. I bought it new with 135 miles on it. They said it probibly needed a charge. So I bought a charge kit, and located low pressure line, and hooked it up. The gauge showed it had 50lbs pressure in system and engine wasn't running. The instructions with the charge kit say it should show 25lbs . If the pressure is too high , maybe thats why compressor won't run? Can anyone give me any info on this.

[fpage77]

I thought it was illegal to fill your own ac units. They stopped allowing poeple from buying refills at auto shops and the mechanics have a unit the reclaims the gas before filling so it doesn't get in the atmosphere.

[dwallen001]

I'm having the same problem with my A/C on my 2005 Passion too. You have gone further with finding a solution than I have though. (I usually just roll down the windows...) I'll keep checking back to see what others have to say to you. I did find this site Ideal Coolant Solutions, Distributor for Duracool Enviro-Safe Refrigerant for a source for supplies.

[NCC1701]

Originally Posted by fpage77

I thought it was illegal to fill your own ac units. They stopped allowing poeple from buying refills at auto shops and the mechanics have a unit the reclaims the gas before filling so it doesn't get in the atmosphere.

AFAIK, they're still selling the kits around here. I haven't checked recently, but if they've stopped selling them it has been within the past couple years.

About the system being overcharged ... from my limited experience, I'd say that probably is your problem. And, the solution may be more involved than simply restoring the correct pressure. Overcharging will damage your compressor. Been there, done that.

[natrgatr]

The new types of refrigerant are specifically designed to be enviromentally friendly and are sold in kits to the consumer. The old refrigerants can only be purchased by licensed AC techs and have to be reclaimed instead of released to the atmosphere.

[smart2]

Originally Posted by rayman1946

My 2005 G&K Smart Car's AC won't work. The switches on dash light up, engine idle speeds up, cooling fan runs, but compressor won't kick in. I bought it new with 135 miles on it. They said it probibly needed a charge. So I bought a charge kit, and located low pressure line, and hooked it up. The gauge showed it had 50lbs pressure in system and engine wasn't running. The instructions with the charge kit say it should show 25lbs . If the pressure is too high , maybe thats why compressor won't run? Can anyone give me any info on this.

I think the low side pressure should be 15 to 30 running, high should be around 150, the hotter the outside air temp is, will raise the high side pressure, thats 90+ degree weather, the pressure won/t turn off the compressor till over 200, the compressor wont come on till it has over 50 lbs pressure, its posible it is just low,are you just using the low pressure guage that comes with the recharge kit? with the engine not running the pressure will equalize , i would try to add a little freon and see if the compressor kicks in, start it up and turn on ac with fan on, you can hear it click in if its going to work,if it already has 50 lbs it should click in in a few seconds when you start adding freon,

[rayman1946]

Ok, now don't tell me, this system use freon? or R134? I was using R134a, I hooked gauge and can to low side, and opened with engine not running, nothing seemed to happen. Gauge showed about 50lbs. Compressor still won't run. Is there a separate fuse and relay box other whats in the "SAM"? I read somewhere there is a Engine control fuse/ relay box under the seat. Could not find it. I was trying to jump the wire at compressor to hot wire clutch to check that it even works. Can't hardly reach without lowering engine. Is there two pressure switches on the system? I see one at line at compressor. Is there another? This has really got me puzzled. I talked to guy at AC shop, he looked at car like it was from another planet. I don't really want him messing with it, he wasn't even sure where the motor was. I going to have to hot wire compressor clutch to make sure it works.

[a2jack]

The Canadians have been all through this with their early Smart CDIs. The problems in most cases turned out to be many tiny, line/seal leaks.

The fix is to take your car to an AC shop. Have them vacuum out all the old 134, add a stop leak and a dryer then replace with Duracool.

After reading about the Smart fix's I tried the trick on an old Dodge Caravan that had not had cool air for a long time. I got a whole summer of nice AC out of it and the Duracool did not harm the environment. A2Jack.

[rayman1946]

OK, I hot wired the compressor, and the clutch kicks in. There is some kind of switch/ resistor/ sensor/ or something that the wires go in and out of right before the compressor clutch. It is bolted into the compressor housing with a little bracket and a philips screw. What is this thing ?????? I can't get power to go through it. I'm still baffeled with this AC..... Where is the dryer located???

[rayman1946]

Well I gave up on AC till next summer. Maybe I can figure it out till then.