If you got nothing then it soulds like the unit is ok.

So now the fun of finding out what goes missing when it stops. This will be a bit hard because the only time you can test is when it happens.

 

When it works it is cold so is that an indication that it doesn't need to be charged? I'm asking because that's one of the things I would check and since I don't have that tool I'd have to take time off and pay someone to check it.

Otherwise I think I'll:

See if I can reproduce the problem consistently e.g. certain time of operation or certain fan speed etcetera.
Then I'll also check for lose wires at the A/C unit and temp sensor on dash
Then I'll have to dig into the head unit. The CD player seems to act up but until now I was under the impression it only did that with CD's that I had burned myself.

I fear what I will find, since I bought it used, is that some previous owner had some electrical work done and there will be a nice hornets nest of crappy wiring to fix somewhere or they skimped on something and it now needs $xxx item to fix. Well, that's what has happened in the past when I bought used cars: It's always something.

 

What I have found so far is that when it stops cooling I can hit the AC button to shut the AC off, then let it run until the fan speed drops, then press the OFF button, wait 10 seconds, press the AUTO button and most of the time it will come back on. If it doesn't, I repeate the steps and it comes on.

Have not been able to get it to stop cooling consistently. I don't think it is a lose wire because I had it on through some road construction and that jiggled the crap out of the car and it still cooled.

I'm thinking it is either engine temp related or cabin temp related. As in the AC unit itself is getting too hot or the little temp sensor in the cabin is off and when temps get real high it starts sending out the wrong signal. So, I'm off to find the procedure for testing the cabin sensor. If you have any advice please post. Thanks.

 

Okay, so I've been messing with the A/C system a bit more. The button combination I mentioned stopped working. The A/C does not come on now in hot weather. It will come on sometimes in cool weather.

I went ahead and bought an A/C charge tool; the DIY tool at the local automotive store. I checked the pressure and it seemed out of the window but still barely in the green. So, I charged it. Then it happened...

I charged the system, watching to make sure the clutch was moving on the A/C unit and monitoring the pressure guage. Then, the radiator fans shut off, the A/C unit clutch stopped and the A/C pressure reading went into the red. Yikes!!

So, I unhooked my A/C tool and tried to turn the A/C back on. When I pushed the button (any button that turned A/C on) the radiator fan would come on at the same time as the A/C clutch. Both would run for a short while and then both would shut off.

Any advice you can give on that behavior?

 

It really would be nice to know what the high side is doing when this happens, without that it is kind of a guess.....mine, soulds like the expansion valve is going.

Might see if TexasHonda has anything to add? My AC knowledge is almost nothing compared to his....yes I can follow wire diagrams but understanding and reading pressure readings and knowing what they are tell you.....I'm of no help.....sorry.

 

PM said you were having problems. While this long running thread may be comfortable, it tends to inhibit new readers (who wants to read pages of threads?). Suggest when you have a new problem, post a new thread.

I suspect your original problem was failure of AC thermostat to control evap temp, resulting in freeze-up and no cooling until evap thawed out. Did you happen to notice any fog exiting vents when air became warm?

Charging w/ a Walmart AC special is a recipe for disaster. You don't know what high side is doing, and it may be getting far too high. In that case, the hi/lo pressure cut-out switch should disable compressor to prevent an explosion, which appears to be your situation. The higher pressures you saw on low side pressure gauge occured after compressor was disabled and system was equalizing, which increases pressure on high side.

An AC manifold gauge set is necessary to measure system pressures and understand what's happening. You will need to get a set of gauges, some reading to understand how to use them,... or get a shop to investigate.

good luck