faulty accumulator PT

anyone have any idea of the symptoms of a bad air/con accumulator

 

An accumulator, by definition of refrigeration equipment, is just a
"slop tank" to keep liquid out of, say, the suction inlet on a
compressor, or to keep condensed liquid off the valves/heads of a
compressor. There are no moving parts. However, many systems have an
orifice tube or screen that is in their accumulator tanks that acts as
a coarse system filter, and that does get plugged up during a
compressor failure, or if the system has been run to death on a low
charge, or on mixed/wrong oil.

Signs of a plugged orifice tube/suction screen in any system would be
abnormally low suction pressure at the compressor, somewhat high head
pressure and very high superheat out of the evaporator when compared
to the compressor inlet pressure. If the system has a test port at
the evaporator tailpipe (rare anymore, if at all) you'll also see a
high evaporator pressure. On a full charge, that means the suction
side will be "not cold" to the hand under light load (low evaporator
fan speed, etc.) while the compressor suction reading will be
abnormally low. There is no way, other than if it filled up with
debris from a failed compressor that an accumulator proper could
fail...it's just a tank with a baffle in it. Same goes for most
automotive receiver/dryers...just a standard receiver tank (opposite
of an accumulator; it wants nothing BUT liquid to go out its outlet)
with a cheap bag of silica gel hung in it. Better aftermarket
receivers can be had with molded cores as are used in commercial
refrigeration, but they don't come cheap and are tough to source.
Sporlan, years ago, did offer a line of aftermarket molded cord
reciever/dryers which were excellent at cleaning up dirty/acetic
systems, but FrigiKing and ARA ran them out of that part of the
business. Sporlan is still probably the largest and best supplier of
commercial refrigeration accessories and valves in the US.

 

Why not just post a question on what's wrong with your vehicle?

Glenn

 

in reply to Glenn, I did not want to influence the reply. ok here goes, PT
2.2CRD 2002 model year. 40k on the clock. car came in to workshop with
burned out compressor clutch. tech replaced compressor and these symptoms
started. initial start up ac works ok for about 3 mins, the low pressure
gauge on the regas station indicates about 5 bar then starts to rise then
drop as the clutch cycles approx every 5 secs. every cycle takes the low
pressure up a touch more until the cooling effect stops and the pipework
feels warm. the high pressure never moves from 5 bar . when evacuating
the system the full charge is never removed and has to be repeated several
times. the fixed orifice tube has also been renewed. i am thinking towards
the accumulator but have never experienced a failure in 10 years.

 

2 questions.......... First question to you is are you using the test port
for the high side gauge at the compressor or at the hose itself?
2nd question..... Does the A/C condenser fan come on as soon as the
compressor engages.

My guess will be you are using the ports at the hoses on the top and the fan
does not turn on when the compressor turns on. If the fan does not turn on
as soon as the compressor kicks on the high side will go extremely high, the
condenser will get very hot and in some cases the R-134 may blow out. If you
use the port at the top you will not see the high side. It has to be
connected to the compressor port. Very hard to access unless you have a
small hand/arm the grille and radiator must be loosened

Glenn

 

Bingo!!! your fan module is bad. If you have a scan tool you can actuate the
high and low speed. you will probably not have a low speed.And before you
install the fan.......connect to the compressor port and you will see how
high the pressure is

Glenn

 

refrigerant?

 

Im not an engineer!!! But im sure it has something to do with the port on
the line, all I know is you are not supposed to use the upper port.

Glenn

 

This is not a sprint phone with the bar reading.:grinyes: :rofl: :lol:

Give us some good old Fashion low and high side pressure readings at
idle and at 2000 rpm with ac compresser running.
MT

 

<lots of indecipherable quoting>

R-134A + no condenser cooling = ULTRA high head pressure. You're
lucky you didn't lunch the compressor, and that may happen soon
enough.

Another fun feature of DuPont and GM's big fraud against the world,
R-134A. Just another reason why I refuse to do 134A "conversions" on
restored and rehosed R-12 car systems. There are good,
environmentally friendly blends, like R-418A, that don't need PAG or
olefin oils and are more thermally efficient, especially if using
isobutanes. The problem with blends isn't that they're "not as good"
as 134A...it's just that it takes a real refrigeration man to use them
properly, not some garage jockey. You cannot "top off" a system
running blends...it must be leak tested, made tight, the blend
reclaimed and recharged from vacuum. 134A got the nod because it's
NOT a blend, and therefore, the user just keeps dumping more of the
crap in when he springs a leak...making DuPont (and their still
illegal interlocking partner, GM) all that much happier. It also
caused a lot of clueless car owners (and corporate idiots in charge of
large chillers, etc.) to scrap and trade in R-12, R-502 and R-13
equipment needlessly. Remember, it was GM's "Boss" Kettering who
headed the original "Freon" project for DuPont while still employed by
Sloan at GM in the '30s. They weren't going to give up that
multi-billion-a-year business, no sir!

DuPont is also allegedly responsible for spreading the now-common and
disproven myth that R-406 and R-409 (and their improved successors)
would cause immediate liver failure if inhaled, as well as the lie
that isobutane blends are an "explosion hazard." Anyone with half a
brain can research and find out that 134A explodes at 400°F with less
than 5% oxygen present, far lower than the HCFC refrigerant it
replaced. But, oh yes...the hydroflouric acid threat is still there
with 134A, especially when running PAG oil...and I'd wager a good
chunk that PT's refrigeration system is REAL acetic right now. Lotsa
luck with that compressor next summer!

 

That was AT&T Wireless (and clueless) which is now swallowed whole by
"Dingular," a toy of the "new AT&T" (SBC) and Bell Souff.

 

"in reply to Glenn, I did not want to influence the reply. ok here goes, PT
2.2CRD 2002 model year. 40k on the clock. "
================================================================

if PT means a PT Cruiser..................
is this a "foreign" one?

if RD means rear wheel drive????

US ones 2.4 and FD

H

 

Cheers Glenn. spot on. I took your advice and it worked. it was a faulty
connection at the fan module. as soon as I connected to the compressor port
it became obvious. the rebelmc.

 

"CRD" means "Common-Rail Diesel."

Same drive layout as any PT Cruiser, except for the diesel engine.

 

Who makes the diesel for those?

 

BP, Exxon, etc.

 

Good one!

 

Yeah...a bazillion laughs, har de har har! Go join Charlie Nudo over
in the corner! Nah, wait...that's TOO severe, and would require
breathing apparatus.