Looking for any help on what ?y problem could be with my cars AC... My AC originally worked great until last year.. Nothing dramatic happened I just got in it one day and when I turned the AC on I noticed it wasn't getting cold, as I drove I noticed that it would get cold like it should while I was actually in motion with my foot on the gas pedal, as soon as the car comes to a stop and I am no longer pressing on the gas pedal it stop blowing cold air. It doesn't need a recharge & my AC compressor kicks on & seems to be working fine. I've mentioned this issue to several people & they have all been confused with the whole on works while I'm pressing on gas pedal part... If anyone has any ideas of what it could be or what I might be able to do to figure out what is going on I'd really appreciate it, especially since it's already hitting +100° where I live! 🥵😡

 

Your cooling fan or cooling fans behind the radiator are supposed to be turning on whenever the AC is engaged. Sounds like they are not. What's happening is when you are in motion, air across the condenser is enough to cool down the refrigerant inside it. So while moving, the system operates as designed. When you stop, there is no more air movement. There is supposed to be air movement driven by those cooling fans, but they are not coming on and therefore there is no cooling of refrigerant in the condenser and therefore no cool air inside the vehicle.

Don't remember if you have one or two cooling fans.

to test the motor of each fan, carefully remove the connector, and hook the The motor's positive contact directly to the positive post on the battery and the negative to the negative post on the battery or to the frame of the vehicle. Doing so takes the PCM and the AC relay and the fan relay out of the equation.

If the motors are good they will spin. If the motors are no good they will not spin or will labor to spend crappily.

The only other time those fans should be spinning is when the engine gets extremely hot. They should turn on as the temperature needle on the gauge approaches generally near the colored zone on the high end. If they weren't turning on or aren't turning on, I would expect your vehicle to be overheating in 100° heat while sitting still for 5 to 10 minutes in your driveway. But definitely test the motors.

Post results and we will take it from there

 

Gas is low.

 

Hey, so I really appreciate your feedback on the issue I am having with my AC, i will definitely look into the fans because it did sound like that could be it but then I remembered that it's not that its only blowing cold while in motion, it's that it literally only blows cold when I am pressing down on the gas pedal. So let's say that I am driving & I take my foot off the gas & just coast for a bit, still in motion, the air will not be cold like it should. Once my foot is off the gas pedal it ac air stops blowing cold. If I am in neutral and give it gas/press down on the gas pedal the ac will blow cold even while parked & not moving... And it's this situation that has been confusing people I've talked to.. So if there's anything you could think of that may cause this issue I'd very much appreciate it! Thanks

 

Given additional information above, system is low on refrigerant

 

I have the same issue and I took mine to a mechanic today and was told it was the expansion valve. Cheap part but labor is costly.

 

Yup. Labor is costly. What a coincidence.

After he changes the TXV, he'll pull a vacuum on the system and then give the system a full charge of refrigerant.

So which will fix the problem? Replacing the TXV or refilling the system with refrigerant?

He may be correct, he may not. Ask him how he has diagnosed the problem to be the TXV.

 

I am in no way mechanically inclined besides what I can manage to fix with the help of YouTube but all I know is I took mine in to be recharged after someone told me my entire ac system needed replaced. The mechanic said his boss checked all the parts and they were all fine with the exception of that valve, he explained that with the vue he would have to take the front part of my car apart which will take him over 2 hours which is why I stated that the labor was costly but the part was not. I was just trying to give the original poster an idea as to what the problem may be due to my car doing the exact thing after the mechanic recharged my system and told me that it will blow out cold while
my foot is on the gas pedal but the second I take it off it will blow hot.

 

Thank you for the additional detail.
I'm not ******* you. You shared your experience in an attempt to help others and that is appreciated.

​​​​​​I encourage people to ask questions about their vehicles of those that diagnose their issues. It's a learning experience for the owner. Sometimes it is also a way to ensure you're getting a consistent logical assessment from your mechanic.

Sometimes telling you things like "I'll have to replace the whole system" is a way of telling you "I prefer not to work on your vehicle." Which is a valid response to any situation.

Blah blah blah

So stick around and continue to help out by sharing your experiences.

Peace

 

Did you ever get this solved? I have the same issue. Only gets cold when i am on the throttle. Took it in, they said the system was a pound low on refrigerant. Paid them $600 recharge the system and replace 2 service ports. Didnt fix the issue. Not even a little bit. They want me to replace the compressor, condensor, expansion valve, etc. I can replace the compressor myself but the other items are more difficult. I see you are in Sacramento. I am too.