Frozen AC system
08-07-2011, 06:21 PM
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Frozen AC system
I just returned from a trip this afternoon and I had a problem with the AC.
While driving on the highway -- all of a sudden -- we started to get a lot of blower noise and a reduced amount of air out of the front dash vents. I tried setting the air output manually -- moving it first to the defrost position and then the floor --- then all three at the same time -- but nothing really worked to increase the air volume. I was getting a sound similar to when the recirculation is on -- like when you set some systems to max cool with full fan. Only louder -- very little air was coming out of the dash vents. I tried turning the system on and off -- no change
I played around with a lower fan speed and lowered the temp setting -- but it was barely keeping up in the 90 plus heat. I really felt that one of the motorized control flaps must have broken and was restricting the air. I was on the highway and could not stop -- and what could I do anyway.
I continued to drive for another 1/2 an hour or so -- stopped for gas - checked to make sure that water was draining out under the car and the carpets were dry -- all OK. After putting $100.00 of gas in the beast we continued on --experiencing the same problem.
So after another 1/2 an hour -- I put the system back on "auto" and turned off the auto re-circulation -- then I put the system in "econ" to turn off the compressor. I could tell immediately when the air temp did not change that I must have a frozen system. As I continued to drive the air volume from the vents increased as the noise subsided - eventually (about five minutes) when the air started to get warm I hit the "auto" button and the system worked perfectly for the next two plus hours.
We stopped at the food market and the car was dripping underneath as normal -- but now the carpets had a few damp spots on the passenger side -- It looked like the evaporator box was sweating.
I'm wondering what could have happened -- what would make it freeze so fast -- it literally happened in a few seconds. I'm wondering if I had a partial clog in the drain and water filled the evaporator box and then froze solid -- does anyone know if this would happen -- most report that the water just overflows into the passenger compartment.
While driving on the highway -- all of a sudden -- we started to get a lot of blower noise and a reduced amount of air out of the front dash vents. I tried setting the air output manually -- moving it first to the defrost position and then the floor --- then all three at the same time -- but nothing really worked to increase the air volume. I was getting a sound similar to when the recirculation is on -- like when you set some systems to max cool with full fan. Only louder -- very little air was coming out of the dash vents. I tried turning the system on and off -- no change
I played around with a lower fan speed and lowered the temp setting -- but it was barely keeping up in the 90 plus heat. I really felt that one of the motorized control flaps must have broken and was restricting the air. I was on the highway and could not stop -- and what could I do anyway.
I continued to drive for another 1/2 an hour or so -- stopped for gas - checked to make sure that water was draining out under the car and the carpets were dry -- all OK. After putting $100.00 of gas in the beast we continued on --experiencing the same problem.
So after another 1/2 an hour -- I put the system back on "auto" and turned off the auto re-circulation -- then I put the system in "econ" to turn off the compressor. I could tell immediately when the air temp did not change that I must have a frozen system. As I continued to drive the air volume from the vents increased as the noise subsided - eventually (about five minutes) when the air started to get warm I hit the "auto" button and the system worked perfectly for the next two plus hours.
We stopped at the food market and the car was dripping underneath as normal -- but now the carpets had a few damp spots on the passenger side -- It looked like the evaporator box was sweating.
I'm wondering what could have happened -- what would make it freeze so fast -- it literally happened in a few seconds. I'm wondering if I had a partial clog in the drain and water filled the evaporator box and then froze solid -- does anyone know if this would happen -- most report that the water just overflows into the passenger compartment.
