Hey guys. I am the original owner of this vehicle. The A/C dashboard button on this car malfunctioned and I did not want to spend alot of money on the replacement button (something like $400).

I originally had a friend hot wire the compressor to run all the time, but I turned the fan off for a while and then when I turned it back on, it blew a line and I lost everything.

After having the line fixed, I had a local shop install a seperate button for me under the dash to automatically turn the compressor on and off and I had the system recharged.

Now, whenever I run the compressor for a few minutes, and then turn the the fan on, I get great cold air for a few seconds but then it fades away.

When it is hot out, or if I turn the fan on at the same time of the compressor, the air is not cold by any means and it really stinks.

The only time I get cold air from the system for an extended period of time is if it is cool outside.

I am driving down to Disney from from North Carolina in 2 weeks and I am not excited about it at all.

Somebody help, please .............

 

If you're going to hotwire at least do it intelligently. All you have to do to bypass the control panel and force the compressor on is ground the blue wire from the control panel. That will leave all the safety controls intact (including the pressure switch so no blown lines). The ECU will start the compressor and fan at the same time. That is not a problem in normal operation. Running the compressor without the fan as you know is asking for trouble.

I would think if your shop did such a half-*** hotwire they probably don't know much about charging either. Evacuate the system down to a full vacuum and recharge it by weight with the specified amount then see what kind of performance you have. Note that with the control panel bypassed, the evaporator is likely to eventually freeze up and you will need to turn the hotwire switch off and allow it to defrost.

Buy a used control panel and restore the car to stock is the best bet in the long term.

 

I am getting the system vaccumed and recharged on Tuesday. If that doesn't work, do you have any other options for me to explore ?

 

If it were my car, I'd spend the money and put it back together stock (first step in that is what you're doing, evacuate and recharge with proper amount of refrigerant by weight) and find the real problem. Also it could just be the evaporator temperature sensor (which is connected to control panel) not the control panel itself. If the light in the button comes on, but the blue wire doesn't go to ground, definitely check the sensor.