Had problems with my a/c last year and this year (imagine that!). Last year, my mechanic charged the system and all was well the entire summer. This year, the a/c was warm again. He checked the system and found a leaking low pressure valve. Replaced it, charged the system, and all was well again. Yesterday when leaving work, I started the car and heard a quick bang noise up near the belt, left work, and realized the a/c was not working. Pulled over to make sure the belt was still there and it was, but no a/c. About 25 miles later, the a/c was trying to get cool but was humid and just not what it was. This morning, when I started the car, I heard the compressor cycling on and off after 1-3 seconds, a sort of indication that the R134 is low again. I'm wondering what the bang was and if something busted on the compressor or something. I'll be bringing the car back to my mechanic tomorrow morning, but was wondering if anybody had ideas what may have happened or what to check for? I read the post about vacuuming out the sensors inside the "Oh s@%t!" handles, will try that out this eve, but I wonder what the bang noise was and why the compressor is cycling on and off rapidly.

Thanx in advance for any info/ideas.

Keith Ruff
95 850 Turbo Wagon

Took the car to my mechanic this morning. Refigerant was down 1/2 pound which is why the a/c was not cooling good. There are no signs of leaks, so he believes what may have happened is that safety pressure switch (forgot the name of it) got stuck, the system built up pressure, and the switch blew out the pressure/refigerant as it is designed to do to prohibit damage to the a/c system. He evacuated the system, then refilled it with the exact amount per spec, check the low pressure side which was normal, then took the car for a test ride and monitored the temp blowing out of the vents. He said the car is like a meat locker now, system is blowing 38-41 degrees which is what it is exactly supposed to be outputting. Got in the car and had to turn the heat on because it was so cold. Last eve I also cleaned those temp sensors under the "Oh s@#t!" grab handles on the drivers and passenger side, they were indeed dirty. Hopefully that will help the system also.