I’m trying to figure out what’s wrong with my AC system. It blows could but when the AC pulley engages it bogs the engine down and ups the idle RPMs by a couple hundred. I finally got around to getting a manifold gage to check it. It looks to be fluctuating a lot and when engaged, the pressure on the high side gets pretty high. AC definitely blows could but I’m worried about damaging the system by running it. I’m thinking this a clog somewhere (expansion valve?).

I’m attaching a video of the manifold gage and for reference the ambient temp is 80F.

Any help I can get would be appreciated. Thanks.

 

Im no A/C tech but those suction and discharge numbers are way too high. With those gauge numbers your AC high pressure cut-off switch is kicking in. You may have a clog or a severe over charge. Has it been charged recently?

According to most AC charts, with an ambient temp of 75-80 you should be seeing 40-45 low side and around 175-200 high side. Now grant you, these numbers are not absolute, just a range.