So I'm going with a couple friends to New Orleans for the weekend.. with the hot Texas sun bearing down on us.. and the A/C conked out! It would only blow warm air. I turned it off for about 10 minutes, then turned it back on, and it was OK. Lately however it seems that it is just not that cold. Any idea what this could be???

 

I would first check to see if you have freon in the system/ and check for leaks. Probably the a/c clutch is dis-engaging when it gets hot.

 

It probably just needs a recharge. Mine became discharged after about a year. Now it just blows hot air and I don't even bother turning it on... You can pick up a recharge kit from autozone or your local auto store for around $12-15. It takes about 5 minutes to charge it back up. Just one of your options or its time for a trip to the dealer.

benzo,
Freon has been illegal for the last 8 years or so. Remember its the stuff that kills our precious ozone?? All new cars come with R134 which doesn't cool as good but still does the job and keeps the ozone from dying. Remember ozone keeps us from getting skin cancer

 

No, the cars that come OEM with R134 air conditioning can cool very well. Only those older cars, with R-12 systems, that are retro-fitted with R-134 parts can't cool as well as before the conversion.

 

Turns out my A/C fan isn't working. (I assume this is the fan that cools the compressor). I'm going to see if it's the fuse or the actual fan which is broken.

 

AC fan is the fan on the radiator. There are 2 fans there next to each other, one is for cooling system, other for AC.