01 Suburban A/C just up and quit

[mattt]

01 Suburban LT with a lot of miles on it, recently the A/C just stopped blowing cold. My brother also has an 01 Silverado that the A/C slowly over time blew less cold....that one appears to be loss of refrigerant. With the Suburban, it went from working one day to no cold the next day, making me think refrigerant is not gone. Any obvious things to check first for malfunction or dead? Clutch fan working, blower motor in the cab works, just no "cold" happening at the evaporator.

 

[jesse53]

Is the compressor clutch energized?

 

[southboundchicken]

If the clutch is engaging throw a set of gauges on it to check freon levels.... I dont blame you i try to avoid the dealer whenever possible

 

[mattt]

Finally had a chance to check this thing out. The last time I was in it, I thought I heard the compressor kicking on. However, now with engine running and A/C switch on....the compressor is not kicking on. Pulley is spinning, but the clutch is stationary. Hmmmm.....

Probably unrelated, but one of the black plastic caps on the A/C charge fittings(the one closer to the fender) is missing too. Where the hell did that go??

 

[mattt]

Checked all the A/C fuses and they're all good. If the system is low on refrigerant, will it prevent the compressor from kicking on and cycling? Anything else obvious to check that would prevent the compressor from kicking on?

 

[jesse53]

Yes..probably low I would say.

 

[mattt]

Ok, thanks. I guess I'll have to have it checked since I don't have a gauge/manifold set.

 

[mattt]

Anyone know of a place that has A/C gauges on a loaner tool program?