Keep A/C from running when you don't need it.

[Christ]

I had a '94 Hyundai Excel, and before I learned that the A/C was causing my breathing fits, I used to run it all day during the summer, and never really had a problem with getting where I was going at the posted speed limit... even with an automatic.

[NiHaoMike]

Originally Posted by Ryland

the biggest killer of A/C is letting them sit for months without running them, that is why some cars the A/C kicks in for just a moment every time you start the car, others it kicks in with the defrost (something you can turn off with alot of cars, but only after it's turned it's self on) sure this drys the air but it also saves the environment by keeping the pump seals from drying out.

Modern A/Cs don't have this problem. (After all, HVAC parts frequently sit unused for months or even years and work just fine when installed.)

All A/C systems have some form of low-pressure shutoff switch to protect the compressor from fluid lockup. If your evaporator "freezes up" the compressor needs to shut off to keep from continually icing it which will cause high-pressure liquid to back up into the compressor on the high pressure side by evacuating the low-pressure side through the compressor running when it isn't needed (the super-cold evaporator will cool the air without refrigerant running through it while it thaws).

Locate the low-pressure shutoff switch. Figure out what you have to do to force the compressor off; in my old truck removing the connector leaving the switch circuit open forced the A/C off while jumpering the switch terminals with a wire forced the A/C on. If this is the case splice into the wire (or one of the wires) with a manual toggle switch you can mount under your dash.

The switch will be located on somewhere between where the evaporator tube passes through the firewall and the compressor (not in the run that includes the condensor, the other half of the circuit). It will probably be closer to the firewall rather than near the compressor.

Actually, the low pressure control is to prevent the compressor from running with excessive compression ratios if the charge is a little low. A properly operating A/C system will not freeze up. A slight loss of charge can cause the coils to freeze up, however.

[93Cobra#2771]

Originally Posted by elhigh

I'm thinking back to the heady days of the Hyundai Excel, whose AC was welcome in our balmy, sticky summers but I still had to turn off when approaching hills if I wanted to top them before lunchtime...

Did I mention I live in the foothills of the Appalachians? It's nothing but hills around here. And do I miss said Hyundai, and its tiny no-guts engine? Oh, no.

Preaching to the choir on the foothills of the Appalachian mountains. I have to kill the AC in the Geo on some of the long hills here. The escort actually has enough power to pull all hills with ac on. Where are you exactly? I'm in Sweetwater.

[theunchosen]

Oh OOH! I'm in Jonesborough. . .sometimes lol.

We are only redneck when visitors come through then we quit faking it.

I'm totally in control of my AC. And so are the mice in my shed. Mine would have a scandalously hard time of being on when I don't want it to be. ITs not there!