2005 tahoe AC question

[redagain]

after researching the internet I thought id post my AC issue. Keep throwing money at it with no resolve. So Ive got a 2005 tahoe Z71 4x4. 173K...not winter driven gets stored winters..Its basically our family cabin runner. Last year started having an issue with the AC. Blows ice cold...what started happening is that after about 4 to 5 hours driving (cabin is a 6 hr drive) it will suddenly start losing its cool and air coming out warms up. turn it off while still driving for 5 minutes and its ice cold again but now the frequency which it lasts gets shorter...maybe hour to 45 min...loses cool..turn off for 5 min while driving...cool again. If it hasnt been driven for a week or two itll last long...wont even show its problem running around town. One shop evacuated the whole system and recharged it. Same problem. Recently had to replace blower motor and reostat. We drove 6 hours to cabin and back blew ice cold..few days later my wife was driving it around town and it acted up again turned it off for few minutes and blew ice cold. No shop can seem to figure it out. Theyll say we did this and let it run for 20 minutes and it blows ice cold and ill tell them well you have to drive it 300 miles, thats the problem. anyone have similar problem? Trying to get to the bottom of this before labor day weekend run to the cabin. Thx much

 

[OR VietVet]

So many times here, when you blow cold and then don't, it seems to be an actuator or the system is low and freezing up and some components need replaced. You said a shop evacuated and recharged the system. If is original accumulator, I would have replaced it and the orifice and then draw a vacuum for at least an hour and double verify it is not leaking and recharge. I hear one of my actuators making a clicking noise, so I expect that I will have some work ahead for me.

 

[nonickatall]

You have for sure Water in your system.

To explain: the AC:
An air conditioning works because it compresses refrigerant in the compressor, heating it up, then cooling it in the condenser and then sending it under pressure to the expansion valve. There it is relaxed again and the gas cool down.
It then flows through a heat exchanger in the air conditioning box, through which your warm outside air then flows and comes out of the car as cold air.

If you have moisture in the system, the expansion valve will freeze and then the air conditioning will no longer work. if you turn off the air conditioner for a while it thaws and as soon as you turn it on again it freezes again.

You have to go to an air conditioning service, have the system evacuated, have the dryer cartridge replaced and then draw a vacuum for about 60 minutes. The vacuum evaporates the moisture and pulls it out of the system.

 

[redagain]

thanks for the reply gentlemen...I ended up going with a new accumulator and orifice tube and it did the trick..AC was ice cold for the voyage up to cabin and ice for the 95 degree voyage home over labor...wifes been driving it around town never acted up...thx again

 

[mattbta]

This is is the problem with the “newest posts “ feature. Folks don’t know what sub forum they’re replying to or just don’t read the title or post.

¯\_(ツ)_/¯