Question

Air conditioning does not work in my car

Asked by: sulliman24

I have a 2003 Pontiac GrandAM that I bought in May, 2006. It had about 50,000 miles on it when I bought it and the air conditioning worked just fine. The car now has 71,000 miles on it and the AC stopped working in April, 2008. In August, 2008 I noticed that the fan speed was broken. In other words, there are 5 fan speeds in which 1 is the lowest amount of air coming out (for heat or ac) and 5 is the highest. 1, 2, and 3 speeds do not work. I have to switch the knob to the 4 speed to get any air to come out. Keep in mind that the heat works fine in my car and I am well aware that the AC and heat in a car are separate from each other. I was told by a car dealer that it is my electrical resistor that went or was fried causing the fan speed to default to the 4 speed. I am not sure if this guy is right though. So, what would it take to fix this type of problem?

Also, the AC in my car clearly does not work. I was told it could either be the compressor that is broken or it could just need some frion. However, car dealers charge $75 just to find out what is wrong with my AC. Then they are going to charge a ton of money to fix it. My friend is great with cars, and he keeps telling me he is going to test it for me but never has yet. Is there a simple way to do this myself or someone who isn't going to charge me tons of money just to test it?

This Question has been solved and asker verified All Experts Exchange premium technology solutions are available to subscription members.

Subscribe now for full access to Experts Exchange and get

Instant Access to this Solution

  • Plus...
  • 30 Day FREE access, no risk, no obligation
  • Collaborate with the world's top tech experts
  • Unlimited access to our exclusive solution database
  • Never be left without tech help again

Subscribe Now

Asked On
2009-03-07 at 22:48:49ID24209728
Tags

air conditioning

,

ac

,

car

,

pontiac grand am

Topic

Automotive

Participating Experts
2
Points
500
Comments
5

Trusted by hundreds of thousands everyday for fast, accurate and reliable tech support.

  • "The time we save is the biggest benefit of Experts Exchange to Warner Bros. What could take multiple guys 2 hours or more each to find is accessed in around 15 minutes on Experts Exchange." Mike Kapnisakis, Warner Bros.
  • "Our team likes having a resource that is more secure than just using Google and most experts using this service really know their stuff. It's nice to look here first versus using Google." Dayna Sellner, Lockheed Martin
  • "Anytime that I've been stumped with a problem, 9 out of 10 times Experts Exchange has either the accepted solution or an open discussion of the potential solution to the problem." Kenny Red, eBay Inc.

See what Experts Exchange can do for you.

Got a question?

We've got the answer.

Experts Exchange has been collecting answers to technology questions since 1996…3 million and counting! If you have a question, chances are we already have your answer.

Screenshot of Experts Exchange Knowledgebase

Need individual assistance?

Our experts are ready to help.

If you can't find the exact answer you're looking for, ask our exclusive community of 50,000 experts. You’ll get a personalized answer from a trusted professional.

Screenshot of Experts Exchange Knowledgebase

Want to learn from the best?

Read articles from industry experts.

Thousands of free tech tips, tricks, how-to’s and tutorials are available in our peer reviewed articles section. See for yourself how smart our experts are, no login required.

Screenshot of an Article

Working on a long term project?

Store your work and research.

Save solutions to your questions, answers you’ve discovered through searching plus helpful articles in your personal knowledgebase for easy future access.

Screenshot of Experts Exchange Knowledgebase

Access the answers to your technology questions today.

Subscribe Now

30-day free trial. Register in 60 seconds.

What Makes Experts Exchange Unique?

Members of the expert community talk about why the experience at Experts Exchange is different than what you will find anywhere else.

Trusted by the world's most respected brands.

image of each brand's logo

Faithfully serving IT professionals since 1996.

Experts Exchange Logo

Try it out and discover for yourself.

Subscribe Now

30-day free trial. Register in 60 seconds.

Related Solutions

    Free Tech Articles

    1. WARNING: 5 Reasons why you should NEVER fix a computer for free.
      It is in our nature to love the puzzle. We are obsessed. The lot of us. We love puzzles. We love the challenge. We thrive on finding the answer. We hate disarray. It bothers us deep in our soul. W...
    2. SCCM OSD Basic troubleshooting
      SCCM 2007 OSD is a fantastic way to deploy operating systems, however, like most things SCCM issues can sometimes be difficult to resolve due to the sheer volume of logs to sift through and the dispe...
    3. Migrate Small Business Server 2003 to Exchange 2010 and Windows 2008 R2
      This guide is intended to provide step by step instructions on how to migrate from Small Business Server 2003 to Windows 2008 R2 with Exchange 2010. For this migration to work you will need the fo...
    4. Create a Win7 Gadget
      This article shows you how to create a simple "Gadget" -- a sort of mini-application supported by Windows 7 and Vista. Gadgets can be dropped anywhere on the desktop to provide instant information, ...
    5. Outlook continually prompting for username and password
      There have been a lot of questions recently regarding Outlook prompting for a username and password whilst using Exchange 2007. There are a few reasons why this would happen and I will try to cover t...
    6. Backup Exchange 2010 Information Store using Windows Backup
      There seems to be quite a lot of confusion around the ability to backup Exchange 2010 using the built in Windows Backup feature. This stems from the omission of this feature prior to Exchange 2007 s...

    Cloud Class Webinars

    1. Avoiding Bugs in Microsoft Access
      Alison Balter takes and in-depth look at avoiding bugs in Access. In this webinar you will learn about using the immediate window to debug your applications, invoking the debugger, using breakpoints to troubleshoot, stepping through code, setting the next statement to execute, ...
    2. Top 10 Best New Features in Visio 2010
      Scott Helmers gives live demonstrations of the top 10 new features in Visio 2010. This webinar will teach you how to create compelling diagrams by adding shapes to the page with a single click, linking the shapes in a diagram to data in Excel (or SQL Server, or SharePoint), ...
    3. IT Consultant Business Secrets Revealed
      Michael Munger, Experts Exchange tech pro and IT consultant, pulls back the curtain on his very successful businesses and answers question on every IT consultant and business owner should know about. He shares secrets on what he did to solve the 5 most common problems in IT, ...
    4. Disaster Recovery and Business Continuity
      Quest CTO, Mike Billon, gives an overview of the steps involved in building a dunamic disaster recovery plan. Through case studies and an examination of software/hardware tooles for monitoring and testing, you'll gain a better understandin of where you are, where you want ...
    5. Organize Your Visio Diagrams with Containers and Lists
      Scott Helmers uses cross functional flowcharts, wireframe diagrams, data graphic legends and seating charts to teach you: how to ustilize all three new structured diagram components in Visio 2010, the best practices for organizeing shapes in previous version of Visio, how to organize ...
    6. How to Us Objects, Properties, Events and Methods in Microsoft Access
      Alison Dalter gives an in-depbth look at objects, properties, events and methods in Microsoft Access. In this webinar you will learn about using the object browser, referring to objects, working with properties and methods, working with object variables, understanding the ...

    Join the Community

    Give a Little. Get a Lot.

    Join the community of experts here and help other tech pros by answering question in your area of expertise. You can earn FREE access to all Experts Exchange's premium features and resources.

    Join the Community

    Answers

     

    by: isaackhaziPosted on 2009-03-07 at 22:56:45ID: 23828278

    Its simple you just have to ask for your AC gas to be refilled.

    AC gas needs to be changed every 6 month or a year depending on your usage.

     

    by: sulliman24Posted on 2009-03-07 at 23:01:09ID: 23828285

    I am guessing you are referring to the refrigerant. I found somewhere on google that modern cars use something called R-134a and older cars use frion. I consider my car to be fairly modern since it is from 2003. Where would I go about buying the R-134a substance, and how would I refill it? Does this mean I have to get a mechanic to do it since I am a newbie when it comes to cars?

    Also, does anyone have an explanation to my fan speed only working when I put the knob to 4? Is it truly the electrical resistor?

     

    by: isaackhaziPosted on 2009-03-08 at 00:37:28ID: 23828467

    Its not practical to buy refrigarant..... It comes in big cylinders and it needs a couple of meters to show how much gas has already been filled. Its really cheap to fill gas. Usually around 50$... there is no way u can go about filling it urself...  

    Regarding your fan speeds.........   thats some really technical problem... it is recomended u see a qualified mechanic for that.... U dont have to go to a authorized dealer...you could see any mechanic as its just a AC problem and not something more serious.....

     

     

    by: sulliman24Posted on 2009-03-08 at 12:16:40ID: 23830815

    Thanks for the help.

     

    by: OzonetrooperPosted on 2009-06-10 at 19:24:11ID: 24598305

    Re: fan speed on # 4 only:

    Yes it is very likely that the resistor (s) have failed, they are used to reduce the fan speed to the lower numbers on your dial.  That part is user replaceable, but, you must know where it is located !


    Re: 134a:

    Since 1996, R-12, (which was used in all automobiles), was banned and the replacement is R-134a.

    OT

    20120131-EE-VQP-002

    3 Ways to Join

    30-Day Free Trial

    The Experts

    98% positive feedback on 31,087 answers since March 2000. angeliii is a Microsoft Most Valuable Professional for his work with MS SQL Server & Develoment.

    He has also proven his knowledge of Visual Basic Programming, PHP Scripting and Oracle Databases.

    The Experts

    97% positive feedback on 10,752 answers since July 2000. lrmoore has more than 18 years experience in the networking industry.

    The six-time Mircosoft MVPs specialties include firewalls, virtual private networking, and network management.

    Testimonials

    "...and excellent source for support... Kind of like having your very own IT dept." Electriciansnet

    Testimonials

    "I was apprehensive at signing up at first. However... it has already made my life as an IT administrator much easier." JaCrews

    Testimonials

    "WOW! You guys have great, active, and knowledgeable people on here." moore50

    Business Clients

    Business Clients

    In the Press

    "If you’ve got a question... Experts Exchange can supply an answer.”

    In the Press

    "...an invaluable aid for both IT professionals and those who require tech support."

    In the Press

    "where IT professionals provide quick answers on just about any topic"

    Business Account Plans

    Loading Advertisement...