Silverado Ac Problem And Water Leak Issue

luxrw · April 2, 2010

I have a 99 Silverado with two "minor" issues.

The most important is my AC problem (it's getting warm in the south). I haven't used my AC since last fall and it worked then. I tried using it this spring and the AC does not kick on when I select it. The light comes on, but the clutch does not engage. I read in my repair manual to by pass the wire at the compressor with a paper clip or other wire. I do this and the clutch will kick on. The manual said that if you can bypass the plug, then the pressure is either too high or too low. I went and bought some freon with one of those pressure gages on it. I checked the pressure (with the bypass on so the clutch would engage) and the valve shows pressure in the good range. When the clutch engages though, the pressure drops into the fill area. I checked my Jeep's AC and it does the same when it's clutch engages, so I figured it was normal, maybe not. Anyways, with the bypass on the clutch engages, but no cold air blows out. I'm sure that the plug needs to stay plugged into the compressor, but the AC clutch does not engage when plugged in. Does this mean my AC is shot or is there something else I can do? I don't think adding Freon to it will do any good since it gauge showed its pressure to be good.

Second issue is that I have been having a water leak on my driver's side for the past two years. Luckily we were in a drought for a while, but now it rains a lot. I don't have a sunroof, XM or On Star, so water shouldn't be coming in there. My carpet is almost always soaked after a rain. I have tried running a hose on it, but I cannot see water coming in anywhere. I have put caulk behind my weather stripping on the doors, but that doesnt help. As long as it doesn't rain, my truck stays dry. My truck sits about 90% of the time, so I don't think it as a leak from heater core, AC, etc. I have seen residual water after a rainstrorm along the inside of the floorboard area up along the wall near the emergency brake pedal like it is coming down from somewhere along the hood. If read other forums concerning leaks and tried those remedies, but I don't think I have the same issue. Is there some sort of drain in the cowling along the wipers that can get plugged and overrun into the cab?

luxrw · April 6, 2010

I ended up adding the slightes bit of Freon and now the compressor will kick on, but it won't blow cold air. The pressure is up around 50PSI, which the gauge lists as "alert" level (next level is the red warning level). I don't want to add more Freon since I am already high, but I feel that it is low on Freon if the compressor now kicks on with a little bit added.