Ok - i am new to this forum, andhave a problem. I recently purchased a 2003 eclipse gs- beautiful car, but ive been having some a/c problems. it works , then at stop signs or at slow speeds or id hot weather, it stops working. i took it to my mechanic, who is a very honest man (friend of the family)and coulndt find anything wrong with it- of course. it worked fine for him when he had it - but just the ther day i was driving and the ac was not working - of course , but i still had it on to see if it would eventually kick on. it was hot that day and all of a sudden black smok started coing through the vents. i shut the car off immediately and it smelled like burnt wiring or something. i let it set for a few minutes and drove back to work. i caled my mechanic right away and he had never heard of that before. the radiator fluid is full, and there is no leak in the ac system. he had charged it the first time i took it to him so it wasnt that. it is not too full to where it would shut off compression nor is it low! the car only had 40,000 miles on it and runs great besides the a/c. still worried about the smoke that came through the vents. he said the last thing he could think of is an "orfacis" valve that is bad? my check engine light has not come on - SOMEBODY PLEASE HELP! Lorin in colorado springs

 

if the orifice was/is plugged, he would have got a high reading on the gauges, and therefore would have known that pretty darn fast. As far as the black smokw, I have never heard of that either. Sure the blower is working right? Sounds to me like the problem lies with the blower. Just my .02.

 

Help! my mechanic says its not the blower or the a/c clutch - what is it? should i take it to a dealer & pay out of my a**?

 

Have him change the orifice then, maybe ya might get lucky.

 

Does the a/c clutch on the comperssor click on and off quickly?

 

When you say click of & on quickly - what kind of sound does it make? now i did notice a clicking sound but i thought it was the fan? - and yes i does - quite frequent when it isnt blowing cold air...... ? what do you think this is?

 

Turn on the a/c and pop the hood. Look for the a/c compressor and see if the clutch turns on and off fast. If it does that means you have a low charge in your a/c system which also means you got a leak.

 

could also mean the pressure limit switch/switches are bad

 

would a bad switch cause it to run hard when the a/c is on? it seems like it looses power when the ac is on, i mean more than usual, like it runs hard- its not right, whatever it is. ?

 

yes it would, if the switch is bad and doesnt kick it out. But that may not be the case here.