Refrigerant Pressure Sensor

[sailorkay]

I scanned my Saturn Vue XR 2009 2.4L and it throwed some codes P0532 which turns out to be refrigerant Pressure Sensor is defective, cos my AC is not really cold during the hot weather and only get colder at night

I bought the pressure switch off eBay, and I wanna change it myself, I want to know if Saturn Vue 2009 has a Schrader valve to avoid loosing refrigerant when removing the sensor, because I don't have any tools to evacuate the refrigerant before changing the sensor

[fdryer]

Here's some 'light' reading on P0532 (one site); https://www.yourmechanic.com/article...lerie-johnston.

Unless you're familiar with vehicle refrigeration systems in vehicles, diy experimenting can result in expensive repairs. Saturn models usually have a schrader valve to prevent catastrophic loss of refrigerant when a pressure sensor is replaced. Without a service manual, I don't know if your Vue has one. I think you're misled by this error code pointing to the pressure sensor when it can be as simple as wear and tear of our vehicles resulting in either a gradual leak or damage with near total loss of refrigerant. Simply refilling a leaking system isn't the answer or resorting to leak sealer that can lead to a very expensive rebuild as sealer contaminates the entire system. Any self respecting auto ac repair shop will not use sealer, not because it's a cheap fix but zero guarantees of revisiting the same problem down the road and knowing full well the consequences of facing a near total rebuild of a cheap leak seal fix.

Diy ac repairs using store refill canisters never inform diyers of correctly monitoring low and high side pressures with only one gauge with misleading information about sealer and additional cans with a final comment of visiting a repair shop if refilling with sealer fails. Vehicle ac systems are as complex as engines with turbochargers; if one isn't familiar with turbocharger diagnosing and repairs, ac systems are not diy friendly without knowledge of refrigeration.

The first and only hint of ac problems is loss of cooling. The best tool for diy diagnosing is an inexpensive uv blacklight and darkened garage or night time to shine a blacklight onto every part of the ac system. GM decided to install dye into factory systems to make it easer for GM techs to find leaks. This is also helpful to diyers. Dye is yellow green with a large leak visible to the naked eye but sometimes difficult to see with small leaks when a uv light makes dye glow brightly. Dye doesn't have a freshness date; as long as it circulates along with refrigerant and oil, it remains intact. Once a leak occurs, dye will stain the leak area for a long time, enough to find with a uv light.

Each vehicle model service manual specifies whether to run the engine at idle or a higher rpm while refrigeration gauges are connected to assess operating pressures. The usual refill and detecting colder air may be temporary without determining why loss of cooling occurred and may require refilling again and again. Finding dye markers is one of the first things to diagnose vehicle ac problems especially when cooling is less than normal (most likely indicating a loss of refrigerant). Store refill kits can't tell anyone whether their vehicle should be idling or run higher idle; ac pressures vary in proportion to engine rpm. Low side pressures remain low whatever the rpm but high side pressures vary according to outside temps, engine rpm and refrigerant amount. Lower high side pressures are usually from low refrigerant. Pressures vary from 125-250 psi. You won't know this from auto store gauge connected to the low side.

Ac pressure sensors are blamed in many ac issues from lack of understanding how its used. No one with knowledge of ac systems has remarked a faulty pressure sensor caused a system to reduce cooling. The pressure sensor monitors pressures to protect against compressor damage from loss or excessive refrigerant by sending signals the ecm determines damage may occur and disable compressor operation until a repair is made. A correct repair will be detected by the sensor and allow normal ac operation. You haven't described this situation so your problem is most likely loss of refrigerant that hasn't disabled compressor operation yet.

[sailorkay]

Originally Posted by fdryer

Here's some 'light' reading on P0532 (one site); https://www.yourmechanic.com/article...lerie-johnston.

Unless you're familiar with vehicle refrigeration systems in vehicles, diy experimenting can result in expensive repairs. Saturn models usually have a schrader valve to prevent catastrophic loss of refrigerant when a pressure sensor is replaced. Without a service manual, I don't know if your Vue has one. I think you're misled by this error code pointing to the pressure sensor when it can be as simple as wear and tear of our vehicles resulting in either a gradual leak or damage with near total loss of refrigerant. Simply refilling a leaking system isn't the answer or resorting to leak sealer that can lead to a very expensive rebuild as sealer contaminates the entire system. Any self respecting auto ac repair shop will not use sealer, not because it's a cheap fix but zero guarantees of revisiting the same problem down the road and knowing full well the consequences of facing a near total rebuild of a cheap leak seal fix.

Diy ac repairs using store refill canisters never inform diyers of correctly monitoring low and high side pressures with only one gauge with misleading information about sealer and additional cans with a final comment of visiting a repair shop if refilling with sealer fails. Vehicle ac systems are as complex as engines with turbochargers; if one isn't familiar with turbocharger diagnosing and repairs, ac systems are not diy friendly without knowledge of refrigeration.

The first and only hint of ac problems is loss of cooling. The best tool for diy diagnosing is an inexpensive uv blacklight and darkened garage or night time to shine a blacklight onto every part of the ac system. GM decided to install dye into factory systems to make it easer for GM techs to find leaks. This is also helpful to diyers. Dye is yellow green with a large leak visible to the naked eye but sometimes difficult to see with small leaks when a uv light makes dye glow brightly. Dye doesn't have a freshness date; as long as it circulates along with refrigerant and oil, it remains intact. Once a leak occurs, dye will stain the leak area for a long time, enough to find with a uv light.

Each vehicle model service manual specifies whether to run the engine at idle or a higher rpm while refrigeration gauges are connected to assess operating pressures. The usual refill and detecting colder air may be temporary without determining why loss of cooling occurred and may require refilling again and again. Finding dye markers is one of the first things to diagnose vehicle ac problems especially when cooling is less than normal (most likely indicating a loss of refrigerant). Store refill kits can't tell anyone whether their vehicle should be idling or run higher idle; ac pressures vary in proportion to engine rpm. Low side pressures remain low whatever the rpm but high side pressures vary according to outside temps, engine rpm and refrigerant amount. Lower high side pressures are usually from low refrigerant. Pressures vary from 125-250 psi. You won't know this from auto store gauge connected to the low side.

Ac pressure sensors are blamed in many ac issues from lack of understanding how its used. No one with knowledge of ac systems has remarked a faulty pressure sensor caused a system to reduce cooling. The pressure sensor monitors pressures to protect against compressor damage from loss or excessive refrigerant by sending signals the ecm determines damage may occur and disable compressor operation until a repair is made. A correct repair will be detected by the sensor and allow normal ac operation. You haven't described this situation so your problem is most likely loss of refrigerant that hasn't disabled compressor operation yet.

Thanks for taking out to time to explain things out for me.... I will meet an experienced technician to help me out