The A/C on the GP was not blowing as cold as it should have and it has started warming up here in SoCal (high of 100F today), so I decided to recharge the system last night. I picked up a can of EZ Chill R-134a from WalMart. Following the instructions, I ran the A/C on high for a few minutes, attached the included hose to the low side port, and checked the pressure, which was at 25 psi or maybe a bit lower, which was well below the 40-50 psi range the ambient temp chart said it should be for a full charge. So I charged the system. After following the turn, shake, stop, and check pressure procedure on the can for a few minutes I stopped and hopped in the car to see what effect it had. To my dismay it had none! The A/C compressor clutch then started acting up and would disengage, engage for a second, and then disengage again. I took the car for a drive at that point and after a few minutes and about a mile of city street driving the clutch engaged full time and the system started blowing colder air than it has in the short time I have owned it (less than four months). I took it for a short trip on the freeway and back home. I checked the pressure on the system after getting home and it was about 40 psi so I decided to use of the rest of the 18 oz can (it was nearly empty). At that point the pressure gauge read about 45 psi. The clutch went back to its cycle of disengaging for 10-15 seconds and reengaging for a second or two before cutting out again. It wasn't cutting out because the A/C temp or car interior temps were fine because the air coming out of the vents was warm, the system was set to 60F, and the temp in the car was probably 75F+. I tried the test drive again to see if that would help and no such luck. I let the car sit overnight and tried it again a few minutes ago and it is doing the same thing: compressor engages for a second, disengaged for 10-15 seconds, engages for a second, etc. It is also causing the engine speed to fluctuate, bumping up 200-300 RPM when the clutch engages and down again when it disengages. The drop in RPM can be felt when driving.
Do I need to take it in to have a mechanic look at it or is there some troubleshooting I can try at home?
Edit: One more thing to add. When the clutch is engaged, the pressure gauge reads 45 psi (low end of the fully charged range due to higher ambient temps this morning), when it disengages the pressure jumps a bit and then rises slowly to 65-70 psi, then the clutch engages and the pressure drops again. It repeatedly runs through that cycle with the clutch not being engaged for more than a second or two.
Do I need to take it in to have a mechanic look at it or is there some troubleshooting I can try at home?
Edit: One more thing to add. When the clutch is engaged, the pressure gauge reads 45 psi (low end of the fully charged range due to higher ambient temps this morning), when it disengages the pressure jumps a bit and then rises slowly to 65-70 psi, then the clutch engages and the pressure drops again. It repeatedly runs through that cycle with the clutch not being engaged for more than a second or two.
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