Hi Scotty,
my daughter has a 2012 Land Rover lr2 with 114,000 miles. Been a great running vehicle. Recently when it’s real hot out and the car is stationary, the AC blows hot air, when in motion it is cold. I have checked that the compress clicks when turning on and off the ac. What do you think is up? Does it need to be recharged?
It may need topping up, but I would check the fan in front of the radiator too.
When you are not moving, it helps cool the engine off, and blows across the condenser.
There are two radiator fans and they both seem to be working.
@pilot273 Yes I would have it serviced.
Rent a set of manifold gauges from AutoZone. Pick an 85⁰+ day, and run the air conditioner. It should be around 55 PSI on the low side and around 250 PSI on the high side. If the gauges read too low, and you've never recharged it before, you need to take it to a mechanic who specializes in HVAC stuff and have the system purged of remaining R-134a. It's against federal law to vent into the atmosphere.
There is a sticker on the passenger side of the car that specifies the refrigerant and its quantity. If you've never refilled refrigerant before, I would leave it to the professionals. AC systems can be dangerous if you don't know what you're doing. I worked on my Ranger's air conditioner, but I read stuff thoroughly; it was a 2-day affair. I have a minor in Mechanical Engineering, so it was my cup of tea.
Since it can be cold, and clutch engages, most likely a low refrigerant, ac system needs to have high enough pressure in high side to work well, but if refrigerant low, it stops when low side pressure is lower than certain pressure.
i recommend going hardware store borrow an AC gauge, check the running pressure, if lower than specification, purchase a can valve (because the rental tool does not have), a can of refrigerant, and do a charge. Scotty has videos about recharge, as I remembered.
