Kizashi Club

This is my first Suzuki Car and I just bought it a couple days ago and the old owner said the AC system just needs freon. So I went to Walmart and got a can of R-134a but noticed the compressor clutch wouldn't engage when the AC was on full blast. And the needle on the meter that came with freon kit was in the red. I looked at the basics like the fuse, all the fan speeds work fine. I'm not the most experienced in AC systems so I'm just wondering if anyone can help me here.

More information on the car:
Suzuki Kizashi 2011 S
6 speed
150k miles

I believe you overfilled the freon. I had the same problem using the gauge that came with the can of freon. I let the freon out a little bit at a time and check the psi at the low-pressure port in the garage rather than in the sun outdoor and fixed the problem.

Could overfilling the system cause the clutch not to engage? If so I'll just release the pressure. Should I release the pressure with the car running or off, or it doesn't matter because the compressor clutch doesn't engage?

lasallejai wrote:I believe you overfilled the freon. I had the same problem using the gauge that came with the can of freon. I let the freon out a little bit at a time and check the psi at the low-pressure port in the garage rather than in the sun outdoor and fixed the problem.

I agree. While not on my Kizashi, I experienced a similar thing with a Mazda3. If the refrigerant is overfilled, the pressure will prevent the AC compressor clutch from engaging. If the gauge is reading red, use the gauge and hose trigger to release the refrigerant into an empty bottle and lower the pressure. Once in the appropriate pressure range, the AC clutch should kick in if operational.

I lowered the pressure to the green area but the AC clutch still isn't engaging. I'm stumped...

There may have been some early model years A/C clutch failures reported on this forum. I may also be thinking of SX4 forum as well. I suppose the next thing would be to check for voltage at the clutch wiring plug, at the clutch. Voltage present there signals it should engage. Voltage + no engagement = bad clutch.

Ronzuki wrote:There may have been some early model years A/C clutch failures reported on this forum. I may also be thinking of SX4 forum as well. I suppose the next thing would be to check for voltage at the clutch wiring plug, at the clutch. Voltage present there signals it should engage. Voltage + no engagement = bad clutch.

Is there a way I can manually make the compressor clutch engage? I saw videos on how they use a wire to bypass the compressor relay but l don't know how to do it on the Suzuki

No clue...My A/C keeps working. Never had a need to even look to see where the connection to the clutch is actually located. Seems to me it would be easier to pull the plug and measure the voltage at the plug when you think the clutch should be engaged. Then if there's no voltage there, it's 'something else' causing the issue. Proceed accordingly after that. I personally wouldn't be poking around with trying to jumper circuits in any modern day car. Too much risk for unintended consequences IMHO.

As a side note, I do run the A/C for 10-15 minutes when I pull it out of the garage once or twice throughout winter months to get all the juices flowing for a long drive to work. And, the A/C gets used constantly from about now, throughout the summer, and into early fall when I'm DDing it to/from work. (I'm a wuss and loath humidity anymore).

KimKkin wrote:Could overfilling the system cause the clutch not to engage? If so I'll just release the pressure. Should I release the pressure with the car running or off, or it doesn't matter because the compressor clutch doesn't engage?

It also happened to my previous Mazda 6 when I overfilled by mistake using the gauge that came with the can of freon without doing it in the right ambient temperature indoors. This is what I did to get the compressor to kick in again while letting out some freon in the system. I did it in my condo garage with an ambient temperature of about 21C. I kept the car running with the AC set to MAX Auto LO and let it run for a few minutes. Then I just released pressure out from the low-pressure port a little bit at a time every minute or so until I heard the compressor kick in. Once you achieve that, you shall have to adjust the actual pressure inside the system to gain maximum cooling power without making your compressor to not kick in again. I use the chart here on this web page as a guide to do that. I have not had any problem since then, but I my Suzuki has never given me really cold enough air in the midst of the summer when driving in the city at low speed. Hope this helps.

https://www.autozone.com/landing/page.j ... ge-auto-ac#