my 2000 coupe with 150k miles on it is exhibiting poor air conditioning ability.....all seems fine...blower works...temp control works....auto works....just not very cool anymore.....any suggestions or experience with this issue...thanks brothers and sisters...new york nick

 

The first thing I would do is clean the condenser and radiator. Make sure nothing is reducing the amount of air flow through them. These cars suck up everything from the road through these parts. Then have your R-134 checked. It's possible you could be a little bit low. I've had good luck with the R-134 from Wal-Mart with the guage on the line. Just don't put too much into the system.

 

Clean it and check the freon. It may need to be charged.

 

Its a good idea to hose the Radiator and Condenser first as mentioned. I have had plenty of experience with Automotive A/C systems. First of all what I recommend is for you to do is to go out and get yourself a cheap 1-1/2-2 inch Dial type A/C Thermomenter to put inside your center air duct in the interior to see what reading you are getting with the A/C on while running the car. Any good auto parts store should have them. There is a shaded area on the dial below 60 degrees. Anywhere in the shaded area your system is pretty much working fine. My bet is you are a little low on Freon. Might only need 1 can to perk up your system. Most cars leak out some freon over the years. Myself I have a set of both R-134a gauges and R-12 guages for my cars. I don't believe in the so called quick charge system sold at Walmart and other places. I feel you need to see what is going on in your system before putting freon in your car. With a set of R-134 guages you will see what is happening on both the low and high side of your system once hooked up and car running. My R-134 set has a sight glass where you can actually see the freon entering your car. A set of decent guages will cost you about $50-$75. Freon although it has gone up in price is still pretty cheap as far as I am concerned seeing how the old R-12 freon skyrocketed over the years from being in the Auto Parts Business going on 33 years now.

Using my set of R-134 gauges I go ahead and set up 1 can of freon and start the car up with the A/C going with fan in the highest position, turn the low side dial on the set of gauges to let the freon into the system. While this is done I pretty much just sit in the car and watch the Dial Thermometer as it eventually goes down into the shaded area. I get out once in a while to shake the can of freon. You will then be able to tell if your car is cold enough inside or whether you need to add another can. With the A/C Dial Therm if in the shaded area I usually just finish off the 1-can and leave it as that and use the car for a few days to see if it is cooling off like it use to before thinking about adding any more refrigerant. It all depends on how much leaked out over time. You don't want to overfill the system. If you get yourself a set of R-134 gauges don't forget that you need to keep the dial on the high side of your set of gauges closed at all times. Any questions just PM me or ask here and I will see if I can answer it.

 

now the a/c yellow indicator light blinks and she only blows hot air

 

If you sit and do nothing and there is no freon in your system you will surely burn out your compressor. I would get right on it. Hopefully you didn't do so already. Now that you mention that the car is only blowing out hot air tells me you must have a bigger leak then anticipated. You need to make a move right away if you plan to continue to drive your car or this ordeal will be more costly then you think from doing nothing when you had the chance to nip it in the butt. It isn't going to correct itself.