A/C on a 2000 Cherokee

I have a 2000 Jeep Cherokee with about 120,000 miles. The Air
Conditioning has been acting strange lately. It will work for about
10-20 minutes and then it will start to blow luke warm. If I turn off
the A/C for about 10 minutes, it will start back up for 10-20 more
minutes. I took it in for service but I was told that they were not
able to find a problem with the A/C. They emptied the AC then and
re-filled it. They checked for leaks, charged the system, blah blah
blah.

Anyone have any ideas of something to check out?

Thanks very much!

 

Make sure that all the cooling fans are operating as they should,
engine driven and electric.

 

I will do that. I believe the fan is running as I can here it shut off
and turn on. The temperature gauge is hovering at around 210 degrees
which is right in the middle of the gauge. Do you think the coolant is
maybe low or needs to be changed? Or could it be much more serious (aka
expensive) such as the compressor/condensor?

Thanks for the response!

 

Cherokees are notorious for evaporator leaks, but that doesn't
exactly fit your "cools for ten minutes and then blows warm"
symptom.

 

The engine coolant would not affect the a.c. operation. That is
different than the refrigerant that your a.c. uses to cool the passenger
compartment. He was asking about the engine cooling fans because they
are involved in proper a.c. operation (as well as engine cooling).

Are the engine cooling fans coming on and staying on when the a.c. is on
- I think they are supposed to - but maybe someone else can verify that.

Sounds like you need a more technically qualified shop for this
troubleshooting. Maybe there's moisture in the system, which can form
ice crystals clogging up the orifice periodically. That would mean they
would need to pump the system down and re-charge it - possibly needs a
new receiver/dryer (due to moisture overload). But in case that's not
it, like I said, you might want to have a different shop look at it
since the first shop apparently isn't suggesting anything to even check
for or try.

Expect to spend some more money in the process.

I'm not an a.c. expert, so don't take what I said as gospel. Maybe
aarcuda or someone else can confirm or correct anything I said above.

Bill Putney
(To reply by e-mail, replace the last letter of the alphabet in my
address with the letter 'x')

 

Thanks Bill.
I guess I am going to have to suck it up and take the Jeep to another
shop. I was hoping someone would tell me thast it was simply the
thermostat or the engine was too hot or something along those lines.
The engine temperature is why I brought up the coolant. It seems the AC
has been acting funny ever since I had a blown coolant hose. It was
replaced and the coolant was replenished (but more water than coolant).

Anyone else have any comments? I'd like to bring a little bit of
knowledge with me when I take the Jeep to a new shop. I would hate to
get riped off. My normal mechanic, whom I trust not to rip me off, is
the one who hasn't been able to fix the problem.

Thanks ahead of time!

 

going out on a limb but the system may be overcharged and freezing up
did you see them use a machine to recycle and recharge the system ??