| Subject: | 1989 Mits Mighty Max P/U 2.0L engine |
| Question: | Hi Anthony....I just
installed a new water pump in my truck. You have to remove the timing belts
so I renewed them too. I found the timing belt tensioners were frozen, so
they got an overhaul. Then new drive belts for the alt and A/C and new coolant
hoses to complete the job. All re-assembled and engine just purrs! (Quite proud of myself) BUT....now the A/C doesn't work. It has(?) to be related to the work I did. The A/C compressor clutch is cycling as normal as if it's turning on and off and I can feel the engine "labor" as the A/C compressor switches on suggesting it's working against a load. The air inside just blows hot, no matter what the position of the heat lever inside the cab. Blower fan is working OK. I haven't checked the freon charge yet (can't imagine I disturbed the A/C piping so much as to cause a leak). I wonder if a fuse blew, or maybe a wire got disconnected as I was fiddling? Nothing obvious though. All worked before the teardown Any suggestions? Many thanks. Neil C |
| Answer: | Neil, First of all.. congrats! That's a big job and I know your pain. Its not a bad idea to have your freon level checked, but I doubt the problem is there. If your freon leaked out, your compressor would not kick on at all. It is possible the tension on that belt is not quite right. If the belt is too loose, the compressor will not work hard enough to to produce adequate pressure in the A/C lines. Conversly, if your belts are too tight, the compressor is being loaded too much to produce adequate pressure. There are lots of things to disconnect when performing a water pump install. Thoroughly check all eletrical connections again. If you're living in a cold area, its not always easy to diagnose A/C problems unless the temperature is at least 50 degrees F. It is possible something got knocked around when perform your install like your condensor, evaporator, or receiver/dryer. You may be able to borrow a freon 'sniffer' from your local auto parts store to test for any small leaks which may have occured. If you do detect a leak, get it fixed fast. Your truck uses the old R-12 freon gas. That's stuff cost about $45 per pound. And I believe your truck requires about 2-3 pounds. This may be far fetched, but perhaps your heat lever in your car came
loose from its cable a bit. It's possible it's stuck on the heat setting
and not catching enough to move it to cool area. I mention that because
it happened on one of my cars before. |