I have a 2004 screw lariat with the 5.4. I recently took the truck in for some services, and had the radiator flushed, the 90,000 mile service done, and a transmission flush. My question is, why would the A/C all of a sudden not be working when i get it out of the shop. Here are the symptoms, blows tempid air, on any setting. My compressor kicks on for like 2 seconds, and then stops spinning. Ok, here is what I have checked, all fuses and relays are good, although the A/C relay did get kind of hot. The A/C lines, and box on the firewall are not cold at all, if anything, they are a little bit hot.

Now i find it a little bit fishy to get it out of the shop and it not be working, when it was working fine before I took it in, could they be trying to get more money out of me? could it be when they flushed the coolant that it messed with the heater core somehow? Any advice, or suggestions are much appreciated, Thanks! in advance..
.J

 

Sounds like it may be low on refrigerant. Runs for two seconds, low pressure switch opens and turns it off, pressure rises, switch closes and turns it on again for a few seconds.

 

Sorry, couldn't resist. I'd throw a set of gauges on the low and high side of your a/c system there Riddler, as it sounds like your low on refrigerant. The compressor will kick on and and off when your low and not empty. That would be the first thing I'd do, and then go from there. Maybe they accidently (or purposely) knocked some thing loose, causing you to lose some 134-a? Question, is your truck lime green with question marks all over it?

Keep us posted, I'm curious as to what they did, cause that is just too coincidental.

Edit: what Bob said, he beat me to it while I was too busy being a smartass.

 

Ok, so here's the update, I bought a little gauge to get a pressure reading, and it read low, so I bought a charge kit, and started charging, the compressor still kicks on for about 2 seconds, but it does it much more often now, it was doing it maybe every minute or so, now its like 2 seconds on, 4 off. I didnt want to overcharge the sytem, so i stopped putting refridgerant in it. The pressure reader on the kit did not seem to be moving anymore, and the kit i bought has the dye, and i haven't spotted any leaks yet. SOO... Riddle me that!! lol

BTW: The dye that i bought for it is neon green if that makes anyone's day... Cough MITCH Cough!!, lol

 

Sounds like you need to add some more charge, sometimes 1 can might not be enough.

 

Thanks for the reply, Im thinking about doing that after work today, I will definately keep you posted, Thanks again!!

 

you'll have a hard time seeing the dye without a light.