Hello everyone. Last year I was lucky enough to purchase a '91 Camry with less than 98,000 miles on it. All last year the a/c worked fine. When we turned it on for the first time this year nothing happened. I don't think there is a problem with the compressor because it made no unusual noises last year, and I don't think it lost all of the freon because it worked great all last year. We can tell by the sound of the engine that the compressor is not trying to kick on, and by looking at the lines it has not been changed over to R132, so I wouldn't think someone would recharge it with R12 before selling. The fuse is ok, but I don't know how to check the relay. Is there anything else I should check? Any suggestions would be appreciated.

 

The Freon could have leaked out over the winter. The result is the line pressure is too low and the compressor will not start.

Is the green light on the A/C button flashing (if the car has one).

Check the AC and Heater fuses.

The receiver/dryer should have sight glass on top of it allowing viewing of the Freon inside the system.

You can jump the compressor magnetic clutch by appling 12V DC directly to the clutch with engine running. Once done view the Freon in the sight glass, bubbles should appear then disappear.

If bubbles continue to appear when the compressor is running or the the glass is clear the system may be low or out of Freon.

Don't run the system too long or damage can occur. Make sure you apply power to correct wire as the compressor also has a build-in speed sensor with wiring running to it. Find the wire that goes to the clutch

 

Thanks for your reply, as for the light on the a/c button, it is on, does not flash. I am not sure where the receiver/dryer is located yet. Sop far all the fuses I have checked look ok.

 

Test

 

Dryer is mounted on firewall in plain site, looks like an aluminum can.

 

AC button light on but not flashing means certain systems are working OK.

 

Thus suspect low Freon level.