A/C compressor and overheating issues :(

[RJGill84]

I got my a/c recharged about 3 days ago. Today while sitting at a stop light my car started steaming, so I pulled into a gas station. The steaming wasn't too bad, but it was accompanied by a high pressure air escaping. Got back into the car, and the a/c was fire hot, previously it was ice cold. What could this be? I also have random overheating issues. I've bled the system per the instructions and it hasn't helped. It will go a week or two without an issue, and then repeatedly overheat. It goes away immediately as soon as I turn the heat on. Had a pressure test done yesterday and it's all good.

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[86markviilsc]

Year? Mileage? Engine? But, It's most likely time to replace ALL of the plastic cooling system parts. Your main problem is probably the degas bottle have small cracks that leak under pressure.

 

[RJGill84]

Its a 2003 V8 with about 48,000 on it.

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[joegr]

Its a 2003 V8 with about 48,000 on it.

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You need to replace all the plastic cooling parts at the front of the engine and the degas bottle.
When the engine overheats, the AC compressor is disabled as a protection measure.

Here's a good thread on what you need to replace.
http://www.lincolnvscadillac.com/forum/showthread.php?91092-GenII-LS8-Cooling-System-Overhaul

 

[RJGill84]

Replacing all of the components is necessary even if the dealer pressure tested it and said no issues? The compressor may have been disabled as a result of the overheating, but it definitely leaked all the refrigerant out - it's now empty. Refrigerant and leak dye was spewing out.

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[joegr]

Replacing all of the components is necessary even if the dealer pressure tested it and said no issues? The compressor may have been disabled as a result of the overheating, but it definitely leaked all the refrigerant out - it's now empty. Refrigerant and leak dye was spewing out.

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1. Yes. The pressure test doesn't pick up tiny micro-cracks, and it doesn't cover all the situations at different temperatures and engine stresses. There is a lot of experience on this board that points to this as the solution.

2. Then you have a separate problem with the AC. The leaking component(s) will have to be replaced.