03 Saturn Vue AC not working.?

Question

A year ago I bought a Saturn Vue and the AC was functioning perfectly. Now that winter has come and gone, it is not working. I just replaced the compressor, the accumulator, and had new freon put in it. The first day after that repair, the AC was so so...not quite what it used to be and now it is just completely shot all over again. The parts were bought from a reputable company that I have purchased from many times previously so I doubt they are faulty. What could be the problem? Before the repair my car was leaking freon, now it's not so that's not part of the problem anymore. What should I do?

Answer 1

When you replaced the compressor and accumulator, the expansion valve should also have been replaced. The valve controls the rate of refrigerant expansion and more expansion equals cooler refrigerant. Often when a compressor fails, the metal debris ends up clogging the valve. If you're expansion valve is inop, your system will likely have way too much pressure (you can hook up a gauge from the parts store to check). It's also possible (but not as likely) that the system was not evacuated properly before the new refrigerant (freon) was put in.



So you're not confused, the others here refer to your "freon" as R134a, which is a refrigerant. Freon is a trade name for a type of refrigerant licensed under the DuPont company that is no longer used in most vehicles. Freon became synonymous with refrigerant, similar to the way people refer to tissue paper as Kleenex. Any vehicles manufactured after 94' generally use R134a. Because it requires a special license to purchase Freon in most states, it is highly doubtful that it was put in your system. I'm sure you're system was probably filled with R134a which can be bought at any parts store in most states.



As for the diagnosis, it is likely that either the vehicle's expansion valve or the orifice tube got clogged with metal debris. Your vehicle has one or the other. I am more familiar with foreign vehicles which usually have expansion valves, however I believe that most domestic vehicles have an orifice tube that meters the refrigerant expansion into the evaporator. The orifice tube is a cheap part, and expansion valves are usually a little more expensive. Only caveat is that if you replace that part, you will need to have the system evacuated and recharged again. That will require a mechanic and will run up your bill. I would take the vehicle back to whoever serviced it last time and demand a refund or have them fix it. You might want to take your vehicle elsewhere to someone who knows what they're doing. :)



-Certified aircraft mechanic

Answer 2

DuPont's trade name for R12 is "Freon." DuPont's own the rights to "Freon" and no one else does. R12 and R134 is not the same thing. Hopefully, you put R134 in, not Freon. I think you need to replace the orifice filter because I believe that is clogged.

Answer 3

That is your problem, you put in Freon! Your SUV takes R134A not Freon.