No A/C then sudden perfect a/c after as much as hour

[frank1492]

Times to start are random, could be up to hour or more after ac turned on. Very cold air starts suddenly, seems to run indefinitely while on trip but not tested on very long trips.. Engine off, not restarted for awhile, may or may not come back on right away.so cycle begins again. Once when cold air came on, maybe smell of refrigerant indicating leak but have had slow leaks before that just produced less and less cold after recharge. In this case meter shows a/c fully charged when a/c is blowing cold. Pretty much everything new about a year ago. 2015 Hyundai Santa Fe. Hoping not to need more huge expense! Thank you for help!

[JohnHere]

When the problem appears, have you checked under the hood to see whether the clutch is engaged and the compressor is running? If the compressor isn't running, the clutch air-gap might be too wide or slightly so, causing the intermittent cooling.

When you say "meter," are you referring to a Manifold Gauge Set? Pressures won't tell you how much refrigerant a system contains. A MGS used for diagnostic purposes can indicate the general "health" of an A/C system, though. Since the system is cooling well occasionally, it sounds like the system currently has a sufficient charge.

[frank1492]

Thank you John. First thing I thought of was the compressor. On this vehicle, the compressor is in a bad spot to see but I will look again. But if the compressor wasn't running all along why would there be such a sudden surge of cold air? If the clutch wasn't engaged and then engaged I would think the initial air wouldn''t be that cold.

[Tim]

In this case meter shows a/c fully charged when a/c is blowing cold.

I don't trust Mr. "AC Pro". Need a real set of gauges on it and know for sure on the amount of refrigerant in the systems. That is how all proper repairs start. A leak test prior to recovery and recharge should be done.

[JohnHere]

A few additional thoughts and questions:

When it's not cooling, do you have ambient-temperature air (or heated air) coming from the A/C vents, or no air flowing at all?

Wondering why you had to replace virtually the entire system about one year ago. Did the original compressor seize?

Might also be worthwhile scanning the vehicle for codes to see whether anything shows up.

[tbirdtbird]

My money is on the air gap, especially if the comp is a reman. He did not specify