PT Cruiser Air Conditioning

[Even Stephen]

I have a 2003 PT Limited Edition and the air condenser seems to kick in and out frequently and cause a a vibration like the engine might be missing. My '98 Grand Prix has air also and I've never noticed it acting in this manner. Should I have the PT air unit checked?

 

[Daniel Who Wants to Know]

I have a 2003 PT Limited Edition and the air condenser seems to kick in and out frequently and cause a a vibration like the engine might be missing. My '98 Grand Prix has air also and I've never noticed it acting in this manner. Should I have the PT air unit checked?

Judging from your 2 posts here about the symptoms and the fact that your relief went off I would have to say that either the electric radiator fan or the relay that controls it is dead which is causing the high side pressure of the A/C to shoot sky high which puts a huge load on the compressor and thus the engine which bogs it down and is triggering both the high pressure cutoff switch and has also triggered the pressure relief valve to open. You need to find out why the fan isn't working and fix it then have the A/C system inspected for damage caused by the extremely high pressure and if it is OK have it properly recharged to replace the refrigerant and oil that was lost when the relief valve opened.

 

[Even Stephen]

Daniel: Thanks for the advice. I checked tonight and the fan is running. While it is running I can hear the condenser(?) kicking in and out and the car runs fine. The over-flow hose is connected properly. It blows a bunch of cold air! The engine temperature gauge does not rise any higher than usual (just under the mid-point)---in fact, when I saw the steam while driving through the Virginia mountains I kept my eyes on the temperature gauge and it never rose then either. Again, the water level in the reservoir is still at the full line---no change in 1500 miles of driving. My gut feeling is that when I stopped for gas after driving three hours in the mountains and heat, the car didn't have time to cool down?

 

[Wayland]

Daniel: Thanks for the advice. I checked tonight and the fan is running. While it is running I can hear the condenser(?) kicking in and out and the car runs fine. The over-flow hose is connected properly. It blows a bunch of cold air! The engine temperature gauge does not rise any higher than usual (just under the mid-point)---in fact, when I saw the steam while driving through the Virginia mountains I kept my eyes on the temperature gauge and it never rose then either. Again, the water level in the reservoir is still at the full line---no change in 1500 miles of driving. My gut feeling is that when I stopped for gas after driving three hours in the mountains and heat, the car didn't have time to cool down?

System might be low on Freon. Enough pressure to cause the compressor to kick in, but not enough to keep it engaged very long?

Good Luck,
Pat