Hi everyone, I have a 99 chevy Cav 2.2L. The a/c seems to be acting odd. When the car is in motion the a/c is nioce and cool and works great. But when the car stops, the cold air goes away and theres alot of clicking and banging going on. And then recently when the car is at idle for a few minutes it will start to overheat. It only seems to be doing this when the A/C is on. Or at least it overheats faster. I read some of the past posts and thermostat seems to be the first answer to the problem. But I was curious if the A/C could have something to do with it, or if it's causing it. Any suggs would be helpful, thx.
Check if the radiator fan is turning on.
No the Fan is not turning on. That must be the issue. Is the fan switch hard to replace?
Check the fuse, relay, then the motor
it can't be the whole problem because it happens as soon as you stop the car...the fan only comes on when needed and shouldn't come on when the car isn't in montion. I have the same issue and can't figure out what the heck is going on.
supernova00 wrote:it can't be the whole problem because it happens as soon as you stop the car...the fan only comes on when needed and shouldn't come on when the car isn't in montion. I have the same issue and can't figure out what the heck is going on.
When the car isn't in motion, there's no outside airflow to assist with cooling. If you're sitting at a light in 90 degree weather, the fan has to kick on or the temp. guage will creep into the red. The best thing to do is what Sunfires said. I was having the exact same problem, the car would start to overheat if I sat at a light for a while but it would be fine once I got moving. I bought a fan motor for thirty bucks(so much fun to install) and I've yet to have any more problems. There are numerous possible causes but I'd check the fan first.
I had this same problem, take a look at the 'help my a/c quit" The last page I note the problem I had. I had the dealer check it, and e-vac the system, and it hasn't done it since then--however they were not even able to re-create the problem when I took it to them. (the car sat at the dealership over night and I suspect they didnt let it warm up enough before testing).
Its been fine for a month- after that. Still no idea what caused it..
The radiator fan should come on with the A/C full time.
so if A/C works (very cold air), drive car with A/C on and stop or go slow in car, compressor kicks on and off, car starts to over heat, start driving again and all is fine then its the fan motor?
The motion of the car is sufficient to keep enough air going through the radiator and condenser to remove heat, at a stop, if the fan motor isn't spinning, no air is flowing, and little if any heat is being removed. Anytime the A/C is on (as long as its charged, there has to be pressure in the system) the radiator fan should be spinning. The compressor on these cars is variable displacement, the clutch should be staying engaged at all times with the A/C on, not cycling like in older vehicles. If its kicking on and off, you likely have a low refrigerant charge.
But the air is cold as can be in a sense. I hooked up a R134a bottle and the pressure was at and goes above 250 psi.
supernova00 wrote:But the air is cold as can be in a sense. I hooked up a R134a bottle and the pressure was at and goes above 250 psi.
Thats WAY too high on the lowside (bluc cap), it should not be much above 100-125 with A/C off, or above 45 with the A/C running using one of those parts store re-charge can gauges. The A/C will still blow nice and cool as long as air is flowing through the condensor and radiator. But like I said above, if your fan isn't coming on with the A/C, you have a problem somewhere.
