re: My wife’s ac in her car just crapped out

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Turns out it was a bad fill valve.

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Had this happen on my first car. Delivered pizzas one summer without reliable AC. Would blow cold for a day or 2 after adding refrigerant and couldn’t detect a leak. Couldn’t figure out why it was losing refrigerant. Turns out, the mechanic used the sniffer when he was refilling the refrigerant and because the Schrader valve port was in use, it was sealed and wasn’t leaking. The working theory was someone that previously accessed that port forgot to recap, and road grime/debris got into the port creating a small leak.

Always recap your valves.

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Seriously, I don’t know how people are making it without ac in the car driving around in this heat.

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AC went out in my ‘02 Dodge. Can’t make myself spend the $2500 to fix it. AC isn’t that big of a deal. Just roll the windows down. What really sucks is no heat. Can’t just roll the windows down and warm up.

Is it blowing but not cooling? I am sure 10 other people posted this-- check the relay. Easy to find and replace.

I replaced one in my wife's Honda in 5 minutes. it was like 20 bucks if I recall.

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Nah, they just need the right diagnostic tools. Without those, they're dead in the water. Repairs are easy now. The computer is very accurate to the exact problem.

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Nonsense. Diagnosis requires more technical tools but repairs are absolutely more difficult. Components are integrated and packaged to make them harder to access, OEM's are using more specialized fasteners, parts are more tightly controlled by OEM's making procurement more difficult and often illegal for aftermarket companies to make alternatives. OEM's are actively working to make repairs more costly and more difficult to effect for anyone outside of their control.

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No, just need to get a proper gauge set than can hook up to the high side so you can see what the system is actually doing. Low-side pressures don't tell you much of anything, you can have the right pressure and still be undercharged or have a bad compressor.

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like I said to the OP, "it fixed mine".

Byrd - I would start the car and turn everything on and see if the compressor is engaging ( the face plate should start spinning pics attached). If it is not I would start with the relay it should be under the hood in a black box (pic attached) you can use the identical relays right next to it to swap out and see if it will kick the compressor on. If it does then you have a bad relay, make sure you put the good relay back where you got it because those are for the radiator fan I believe. If that doesn’t fix it and the compressor still will not engage then I would check voltage at the compressor wire. It is a single wire that should be getting 12 volts, if it is getting 12 volts and and not engaging then you have a bad compressor, if it is not getting 12 volts then it could be the charge or a bad pressure switch.

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Nah, they just need the right diagnostic tools. Without those, they're dead in the water. Repairs are easy now. The computer is very accurate to the exact problem.

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You keep on thinking that.
See the two other responses to your ignorant post, they pretty well cover exactly what I was going to say.

People that think "Why can't you just hook it up to the computer? It will tell you what's wrong" are woefully mis-informed and obviously have no real world experience in diagnosing/repairing modern vehicles.

These are the same people who will let their neighbor throw parts at it, then haul it to the local Pep Boys/Goodyear/Firestone, etc... and have them hack on it, then finally it winds up with me with a bunch of sketchy aftermarket parts on it, and the same problem it had to begin with. Then the whining begins when they are told I will have to start from scratch, may have to replace the A/M crap with OEM parts, and it will be straight time for diagnostics.
More often than not, it winds up costing you a lot more in time and $$$ when it is all said and done by trying to have some goober with a toolbox trying to fix your car "cheap".

Great advice! Thanks and will check those out!

Happened to my wife's car a month and a half ago on a Friday. She was supposed to drive to Houston the next morning so I called my mechanic buddy. He sent me to the one store in BR that had the low pressure hose in stock and then I met him at his house. He had it changed and a vacuum within an hour.

Ended up giving him $250 for coming through. Everyone was happy and I spent a lot less than I would have at a shop.

Maybe the OT can help here too. Wife's car, 2018 Forester. A/C cuts in and out while driving. Will be good for for 20 minutes of driving then cut out. Eventually it will kick back on.

Recharged the refrigerant yesterday. Still doing it today. Switch? Compressor Clutch? Or the whole damn thing?