A/C

It may be the clutch or just low on Freon. I know a shop that is in expensive and the owner was a Factory tech.

What type of controls do you have?  If you have the three dial type and the LED in the A/C button is flashing it is low on freon.  I added a can (20 oz) and now Stacie's is working again.  There might be a leak but it's blowing cold air for now, indicating the rest of the system is working (at least in my mind).  If you have the auto climate controls I bet the low freon indicator is the same.

Never mind.  I found it on youtube. 

Low side and high side will be equalized when system is not running and any low or high side reading is meaningless . When the compressor engages, it begins moving charge to the high (liquid) side of the system. A correctly charged system that is stabilized (has been running for a few minutes) will be ROUGHLY 2-3x pressure on the high side as the low side, depending on temperature, system load, etc. 

Edited by CORNERS - July/09/15 at 5:51pm

I ran a continuity check on the coil and it seemed to be OK.  Will try the 12 v approach for grins.

The guage reads to 150 psi. 

I have to get a guage.  O reillys has them as loaners so need to do that later.

Back from O'reilly's.  The guy lied.  They would be happy to selll me one but no loaners.

Gaaahh.  So I found a video of a fellow using his mutimeter to test it and I had the leads reversed.  Putting the red one on the terminal produces an Open Line reading.  So, if someone will please confirm my logic or insanity, I will order a new coil.

I did find some rebuilt ones for $194 so ordered.  Think I may have found someone who can evauatate it too.

Don't give up yet. (If you broke off a bolt in the cylinder head, would you buy a new cylinder head?) Try drilling out that torx bolt, it's a very soft bolt, and then putting in a cap screw (with a nice deep allen head) in its place. It's a 6mm x 1.0 thread, I believe. Fastenal will be able to sell you a suitable bolt. 

I will give that a shot. 

Edited by Rob N - July/19/15 at 9:10am

I don't know the bolt length off hand. I think it is about 20mm. pick up a range from 15-30mm and one of them should fit.

35psi seems a little low.

There are a few basic things I would check for diagnosing an AC problem, generally in this order. 
1. Is the relay / fuse good? try swapping AC fuse or relay with another. On the R53, there is a hidden relay attached to the side of the fuse box which requires the kick panel to be removed or peeled back. The dead pedal is in the way. The metal footplate is snapped in place and hides the torx screws needed to remove.
2. Is there sufficient charge? Clutch signal will not be sent to the AC compressor if there is not sufficient charge. Try charging a bit and see if it kicks in. I'm not sure, but I'd guess an idle system would read somewhere around 80PSI on both high and low sides.
3. Is the clutch coil engaging? The pulley portion of the compressor is always spinning. Look for the think (about 5mm) coil on the end of the pulley to engage.
4. Is there correct charge/system is engaged but little to no cool? Purge/charge the system as needed. Use refrigerant with a UV dye. use an ultraviolet light (a black light) to search for leaks. If any are found, purge, repair and recharge.

Unless you know how to read a gauge for pressures/temperatures, only charge to the specified system weight. Always pull a strong vacuum before recharging. Keep vacuum sufficiently long enough to boil off any water that may be in the system. Aim for 1000 microns or lower. At sea level and room temperature, water will not vaporize until below 1200 microns or so.

So Corners, just to check this again. My pressure should read about 80# when the A/C is on and the car is at operating temp. at idle? The O'Rielly's guy said that the pressure for this vehicle never above 35#. Just need to make sure.

Edited by red raven - July/21/15 at 8:42am

OK Rob N. where did you get the references for tests on the A/C?