Air conditioning compressor cycling

[hardhat]

Noticed when it was cooler my compressor would cycle every 10 seconds or so. Now that warmer, it cycles every 20 seconds or so. Blows cold air, but I've noticed that with air set on 73 and it in high 80s outside, the air will blow cold, but then blow not so cold a little bit and go right back to cold. Seems to cool cabin ok, but my jk just blew cold all the time until it reached target temp although it would do some freaky stuff and quit blowing all together for a second or two and then pick right back up (rare).

I've noticed the jeep ac is smart, like it will turn the fan down when you get a text message to reduce noise, but that is unrelated to the temperature variation.
Kind of wondering if I could have a low AC charge from the factory. Don't think it is a leak because it does not seem to be a progressive thing.

Any thoughts? Normal? Check pressures?

 

[Viking Jeeper]

If the temp in the jeep is comfortable and maintaining I would think the compressor may be cycling to save fuel. It does not need to be running 100% of the time to maintain temp under those conditions.

 

[hardhat]

If the temp in the jeep is comfortable and maintaining I would think the compressor may be cycling to save fuel. It does not need to be running 100% of the time to maintain temp under those conditions.

I know the compressor cycles, but I've never noticed the air blowing out of the vents get warmer for a few seconds then colder. Not hot, just not cold.... I'll see what happens when it's 100 outside

 

[Tejas392]

I have had that happen when my temperature setting is close to the outside temperature on a climate control AC in another vehicle. It would flip back from cool to heat trying to maintain a temp. Also, when it is really cold outside and I have the a/c on it would blow warm air unless I set it to the very coldest setting. I think it has to do with how the climate control works. If you turn the temperature setting lower does that still happen?

 

[cgrosen324]

I noticed this too and figured it’s something that needs to be fixed. I plan on asking about it at my first oil change. I fully expect to get that blank stare from the service dept, but will ask nonetheless. I’ve owned many vehicles (23 I believe) with my first one being an ‘81 Rabbit; I’ve never experienced this before.

 

[hardhat]

I have had that happen when my temperature setting is close to the outside temperature on a climate control AC in another vehicle. It would flip back from cool to heat trying to maintain a temp. Also, when it is really cold outside and I have the a/c on it would blow warm air unless I set it to the very coldest setting. I think it has to do with how the climate control works. If you turn the temperature setting lower does that still happen?

I will do the max ac setting on climate control and see what happens. It is not switching to heat and blowing "hot" air. It just blows cold and then not cold, and this is while fan speed is still going pretty high. As it gets close to target temp, fan slows down. Outside temp was 86 or 88 and I had inside temp on 73......I'll do some more playing with it.

 

[hardhat]

I noticed this too and figured it’s something that needs to be fixed. I plan on asking about it at my first oil change. I fully expect to get that blank stare from the service dept, but will ask nonetheless. I’ve owned many vehicles (23 I believe) with my first one being an ‘81 Rabbit; I’ve never experienced this before.

That is kind of my plan too. I'm at 5200 miles and will take it in for a scheduled oil change in the next month or so. I almost think it is going to end up being a normal quirk since it does blow cold and does cool down the vehicle. Does yours effectively cool the vehicle? It will soon be hot down here in southern MS and I'll be able to tell for sure if the system is up to capacity... Mine just blows cold and then not so cold for a few seconds, then back to cold. This occurs while the fan is still blowing pretty hard and this is what makes me wonder if it is abnormal. My other vehicles slow the fan down as thinks get close to target temperature.

Will also test by running on the max ac setting and see what happens with this.

 

[cgrosen324]

That is kind of my plan too. I'm at 5200 miles and will take it in for a scheduled oil change in the next month or so. I almost think it is going to end up being a normal quirk since it does blow cold and does cool down the vehicle. Does yours effectively cool the vehicle? It will soon be hot down here in southern MS and I'll be able to tell for sure if the system is up to capacity... Mine just blows cold and then not so cold for a few seconds, then back to cold. This occurs while the fan is still blowing pretty hard and this is what makes me wonder if it is abnormal. My other vehicles slow the fan down as thinks get close to target temperature.

Will also test by running on the max ac setting and see what happens with this.

I live in Las Vegas so anytime the ac is on it’s at its lowest setting (and I still get that odd warmer air cycling). The ac does seem to cool the vehicle, but we’ve only hit 92-ish so far. I’ll be anxious to see how it works when we’re closer to 120. I hate to be so cliche, but my guess is this will turn out to be “a Jeep thing.” That being said I never had this issue with my ‘16 Rubi JK.

 

[hardhat]

I think it is going to be just a quirk......I put a indoor outdoor thermometer and was getting 44 degree air this morning with inside jeep temp of 78. Got 58 degree air within 2 minutes of driving with 101 temp inside jeep when driving down the block for lunch today. So I think AC is fine. Will still probably check pressure on AC system just for kicks.

 

[hardhat]

So dealer checked out AC charge. It had 700 grams of refrigerant in it and is only supposed to have 480 or so grams, so system was grossly overcharged. Does blow colder it seems, but was kind of cool today. Glad I had them check it out. Will see if it really behaves different when we have another hot day.

 

[cgrosen324]

So dealer checked out AC charge. It had 700 grams of refrigerant in it and is only supposed to have 480 or so grams, so system was grossly overcharged. Does blow colder it seems, but was kind of cool today. Glad I had them check it out. Will see if it really behaves different when we have another hot day.

Thanks for the update. I’m scheduled for service this weekend and now I’m planning on bringing this up. Appreciate it

 

[Ted392]

Wow, .5 pounds over on a +/-1 lb charge. Overcharging is not good for ac compressors, it can/will flood the compressor.

 

[hardhat]

Wow, .5 pounds over on a +/-1 lb charge. Overcharging is not good for ac compressors, it can/will flood the compressor.

Tell me about it. Ridiculous, but seems no harm done. Nice to be under warranty too.

 

[cgrosen324]

So I just dropped my jeep off this morning and the service advisor said I need to run the ac on fresh air rather than recirculated. I’m not sure I buy that - I’ve owned 22 cars (7 or 8 jeeps) going back to an ‘81 Rabbit and I’ve never had ac blowing warm air on recirculate. He said it’s at least a 2 hour process to check the amount of coolant in the system. Whatever… I guess I’ll give it a whirl and see what happens.

 

[hardhat]

So I just dropped my jeep off this morning and the service advisor said I need to run the ac on fresh air rather than recirculated. I’m not sure I buy that - I’ve owned 22 cars (7 or 8 jeeps) going back to an ‘81 Rabbit and I’ve never had ac blowing warm air on recirculate. He said it’s at least a 2 hour process to check the amount of coolant in the system. Whatever… I guess I’ll give it a whirl and see what happens.

On my dealer report slip that they gave me it showed that they evacuated the system, weighed that and then recharged to correct level. The time consuming part is vacuuming the system down (at least 30 min for that alone).

Should blow colder on recirc after interior cools down. I think the max ac button puts it in recirc mode (not positive but easy to check).

I call BS on the fresh air vs recirc, Mine had the symptom in fresh air mode. I never ran it in recirc. So are they checking the coolant or just giving you that advice?

 

[cgrosen324]

On my dealer report slip that they gave me it showed that they evacuated the system, weighed that and then recharged to correct level. The time consuming part is vacuuming the system down (at least 30 min for that alone).

Should blow colder on recirc after interior cools down. I think the max ac button puts it in recirc mode (not positive but easy to check).

I call BS on the fresh air vs recirc, Mine had the symptom in fresh air mode. I never ran it in recirc. So are they checking the coolant or just giving you that advice?

They didn’t have time to check the coolant today That being said I spoke to another guy there and he sounded like he knew what he was talking about. Part of the problem is the new environmentally safer refrigerant they use (dude also said it’s about 10 more expensive), and previous ac issues altogether with Chrysler. He said the system is designed that way to prevent freezing and gunk that builds up and clogs the drain. He said Chrysler spent a ton of money fixing/replacing coils, etc., which is why this newer system they came up with sucks so bad. I ran it on fresh air on the way home and I have to say it was better, at least until I exited the highway. Fresh air on side streets is terrible - you’re pulling in every pollutant and smell.

Did your issue go away once the coolant level was corrected? I’m pretty turned off by all of this, especially living in Vegas. It’ll be 115+ in a couple of months.

 

[hardhat]

They didn’t have time to check the coolant today That being said I spoke to another guy there and he sounded like he knew what he was talking about. Part of the problem is the new environmentally safer refrigerant they use (dude also said it’s about 10 more expensive), and previous ac issues altogether with Chrysler. He said the system is designed that way to prevent freezing and gunk that builds up and clogs the drain. He said Chrysler spent a ton of money fixing/replacing coils, etc., which is why this newer system they came up with sucks so bad. I ran it on fresh air on the way home and I have to say it was better, at least until I exited the highway. Fresh air on side streets is terrible - you’re pulling in every pollutant and smell.

Did your issue go away once the coolant level was corrected? I’m pretty turned off by all of this, especially living in Vegas. It’ll be 115+ in a couple of months.

I will still do the couple seconds of not so cold air, BUT air is much colder overall and is no longer bothersome.

There are replacements for R-1234yf, but they are illegal. Maybe after warranty is out.

 

[GNXtoWS6]

Curious if this was resolved for people yet or not. My 392 blows warm air every time I accelerate hard. Sounds different than the previous mentioned problems. I live in Tampa so very hot and humid every day. Switching to non -recirculate sounds like a bad bandaide to me. My 2020 Rubicon does not have this issue. Anyone else see a change in AC temp under acceleration on very hot days?

 

[cgrosen324]

Curious if this was resolved for people yet or not. My 392 blows warm air every time I accelerate hard. Sounds different than the previous mentioned problems. I live in Tampa so very hot and humid every day. Switching to non -recirculate sounds like a bad bandaide to me. My 2020 Rubicon does not have this issue. Anyone else see a change in AC temp under acceleration on very hot days?

I’m still having the same issue. Mine blows warm air while decelerating and hard accelerating. Part of me wonders if it’s due to the newer “environmentally friendly” coolant they’re now using? My next step is to take it to an AC pro…I have no plans to bothering with the stealership again.

 

[GNXtoWS6]

I’m still having the same issue. Mine blows warm air while decelerating and hard accelerating. Part of me wonders if it’s due to the newer “environmentally friendly” coolant they’re now using? My next step is to take it to an AC pro…I have no plans to bothering with the stealership again.

I look forward to hearing what you find out