noloc45

New member here, hello all!

I've searched on multiple forums but cant find the answer I need. So I apologize ahead of time if the answer is right in front of me and I just havent noticed.

I have a 2004 IS300 and around October my AC wasnt cooling as great as before. I chalked it up to hot and humid Florida weather. Come November is got worse until finally it was just blowing regular air.

By this time in Florida its cooled down though and its still cool so I didnt worry about it.

Before summer hits Id like to get this fixed though.

Ive read everything about not using the cheap AC Pro cans and to make sure and get a manifold gauge from Harbor Freight and measure both H & L. Cool, problem is my AC Compressor wont engage. Can someone help me with this? I read about running a wire or paper clip somewhere in the fusebox or relay or something of the sort to bypass the compressor and get it engage but I'm not sure what that means exactly. I'm not mechanically inclined by with proper guidance I do well so I'm not afraid to do this as long as someone points me in the right direction.

And yes, I've checked all of the fuses and they are all fine.

Also...on the H end, there's a tiny little "window"...what is that exactly? Looks like something Ive seen in other cars that indicate whether a battery is good or not. Same thing? What should I see in it?

Thanks for your help!

Syan48306

The AC compressor wont engage because it detects that your system doesn't have enough pressure so it's trying to save itself.

My 2004 IS300's AC compressor seal let go and all of the coolant escaped through the pulley shaft. It went from 100% to 0% in a minute and then the compressor refused to start. Find out if you have a leak and fix it and the compressor will probably work again. If you have proper pressure and it still wont turn on, then the compressor is bad.

noloc45

I went to autozone and picked up a manifold gauge.....


Connected to low and high. Turned car on.

Low = ~100
High = 0

When I disconnected and went to put back the gauge, I unscrewed the High hose and freon spewed out. Had to open it up and let it all out. Pressure went up but back down when it all drained. Then I did the same with the low.

Any ideas?

noloc45

**UPDATE**

So I picked up gauges and vacuum pump at autozone. Evacuated the system

The only thing is I could get vacuum at the full 30. It would only go to 27. I think this is equipments fault (Ill expand on this later).

So I tested vacuum and it remained at 27 for over 30 mins. Added 2 new cans of refrigerant.

Turned AC on and I got "cooler" air.

This happened about 1.5 ago. Still running "cooler." But not COLD.

I used the gauges again and I wasnt getting anything out of the high end. So Im blaming autozone equipment malfunction. They looked pretty abused
by previous renters.

Anyway, so yesterday I went out and bought my own set of gauges and hooked them up. Before starting the car, both Low and High read ~100

After starting I was reading

Low: ~50
High: ~150

I cant see crap using the sight glass. I dont see anything, maybe its just really fogged up, I dont know.

Clutch engages and all. I dont see any visible leaks on the lines.

The coolest I got was around 63 degrees. This is I got by placing one of those reptile digital thermometers that are rectangular on top of the air vent
and blasting the AC.

Dont know if this is normal and I'm expecting colder or what.

I checked the servo motors, they all seem to be functioning correctly.

Any ideas? Help?

Thanks!