OK, a brief history. Last summer I replaced the A/C compressor & the accumulator/dryer, then converted the system to R134. I flushed what I could, according to the instructions I was given in the NAPA retrofit kit. Blissful coolness for about three weeks, then the compressor seized. OK, anybody can get a clunker once in a while. No time to fix it then, so I put it aside. This year I got a warranteed compressor & ordered a new condensor, just for grins. The new condensor's not here yet, so (unable to restrain myself) I installed the new compressor, a new variable orifice tube, and (since I wasn't able to flush the lines this year) a whacking great filter on the suction side about a foot from the compressor. (NOTHING is gonna get into this compressor!)

I started the car, hit "Max Cool", and then started to feed in a 12-oz can of 134A at the low-side port. With about 9 ounces in, I felt the compressor kick on. I finished the can, then checked the dashboard vents; COOL AIR! Then I noticed that the compressor clutch was continually cycling!

It goes in a one-second-on, 2-seconds-off cycle, and I notice that the low-side pressure gauge (It came with the retrofit kit) drops into the green, then climbs barely into the red. Then it repeats. Wanting to check the accuracy of the gauge, I turned off the A/C and measured the static pressure with everything still. The gauge read 75 pounds. My question is this:

WHAT THE HECK's GOING ON HERE!

Your pressure cycling switch is doing exactly what it should be doing. You need more refrigerant. On some vehicles, you have to jump the terminals of the pressure cycling switch to get the compressor to kick in at all just to charge the system but once properly charged, it works as designed.

John Stricker

What else is in the retrofit? What year Fiero? Don't you have to iunstall a low-pressure switch of some type? Would the wiring from a later year Fiero be good on the earlier years (and WHICH years??)

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John DuRette, Custom 85 SE, PFF SUPPORTER