Automotive Air Conditioning Information Forum

Hi all,

Looking for some advice from experts here. I have just taken my acadia back into the same shop for the third time trying to fix the A/C.

First diagnosis was discharge hose. They replaced and recharged, then said the other hose bulged out so they wanted to replace that. I said okay, they replaced both hoses, recharged, and we picked it up. A/C worked for one day, then I get the blinking light on my A/C button again indicating that we had lost pressure.

They said it was an O-ring that needed to be replaced, recharged again at no cost to me. This time it worked for about a week, at which point some chemical vapor shot into the cabin of the vehicle (inside, not under the hood). Had to pull over and let the car air out. A/C light blinking again, obviously.

They're looking at it again today, and I just called for an update. They said that the fans aren't even spinning now, and mumbled something about the compressor possibly being an issue.

I'm looking to understand what could be the cause of freon or coolant (whatever it was) spraying into the vehicle through the vents. Also wondering if that spray could be the reason why they claim the fans aren't spinning anymore. Does this sound like legit problems when diagnosing and fixing the A/C? Or are these guys doing something wrong?

Thanks in advance!

Refrigerant spraying into the interior can only happen if the evaporator or lines going to it has a leak and has ruptured, or if the seals between your expansion valve (txv) and evaporator are leaking. I'm assuming it has a txv on the interior, some cars have it mounted on the engine side of the firewall. If the fans are inoperable and the a/c compressor is spinning, a/c high side pressure (which feeds your expansion valve (probably in the interior) will see very high pressures.

1) there should be a pressure switch, that when it see's roughly 450psi or so, will turn off the cars compressor. Not allowing pressure to climb higher and 2) should that not work, there is typically a physical pressure relief on the compressor that will actually "burp" refrigerant into the atmosphere to reduce pressure. At no time should refrigerant be released into the car even when things are all going wrong, and I would be surprised to see hoses and o rings bulging and blowing out being that the car has those two safeties to prevent that.

This is what i'm thinking, lack of air flow over the condenser (fans not turning) is causing high side pressure to sky rocket, when this happens an o ring or some type of connection to your evaporator got blown out of place, and vented gas into your interior. The blinking a/c light typically happens when there is a problem of some sort with the a/c not just low gas, infact i think low gas wouldn't make it blink. Things like clutch slipping, too high pressure ext would make it blink. clutch slipping could happen when pressure goes sky high. Possibly once it senses this and starts blinking it will keep the system off until its reset.

First things I would look at is air flow issues, kinked lines ext, anything that would cause pressures to go high. remember an a/c compressor is a pump, your pump seems to be working so good that things are exploding from pressure. The last thing I would look at is the pump. These guys seem like they didn't find the answer by throwing a few easy parts at it, and now just are going to throw more.

hope you get it all worked out, its hard to diagnose stuff over the internet with limited second hand info. A quick tip, is that sometimes when there is a blockage/restriction, that area will be cool/cold/frosty when it shouldn't be. for example the smaller line of the two that goes into your interior (goes from compressor, to condenser/drier, then to the expansion valve) if somewhere in the engine bay that thing is getting cold, you have a restriction there. The larger return line from your interior back to your compressor is normal to be cool/cold. Be careful if the pressure is getting very high because things can get VERY hot and obviously keep some safety glasses on. My info i'm basing on experience from other vehicles not yours in particular, but the general principals should apply. good luck.