I have a 2001 Chevy Silverado. My AC comes on and blows cold. After 15-20 minutes of driving the AC will quit working. The air is still blowing but it is not cold. If I turn it off for a minute or two it will start working again. It always works when the car is first started. Any idea what could cause this? I have no idea if it is a vaccum leak or my compressor cutting out or something else all together. Thanks for any input.

sounds like the unit is freezing up. you are eiether low on freon, or the thermostat or low-side low-pressure switch (which ever kind of system you have) has gone bad.

Best thing to do is hook up a set of gauges and run it to see what the pressures tell you

I will check my freon. If it is OK I may have some questions about my pressure switch or thermostat. I thought since it was blowing cold it had freon in it. I guess it may just not have enough and could be freezing it up. That makes sense. I am going to look at it this weekend. Thanks for the help.

My 2000 Z71 did the exact same thing. My Mechanic said the compressor is getting hot and shutting of. He also said i could have checked it myself by cooling of the compressor with a water hose or something of that nature and then seeing if it would start engaging again. Bad news was I still had to get a new compressor.Good Luck

My compressor cuts in and out as well.

I'm pretty sure I need a new one too.

Before yall put new compressors on go by and have them serviced to make sure they are not low on freon,almost all a/c system's will loose some freon over the winter due to seals leaking a little ok.you will be surprised at what adding a little freon will do for ya.

My last truck use to need a little freon every time summer began. It is very easy to add freon yourself. Just get one of those connectors with the guage on it and a can of freon. So easy a caveman could do it.

I addressed this same problem about a month ago on this forum.

Was advised to add freon. Added freon........VOILA! AC runs without cutting off and on now.

Uhhhhhh, Chris.......how about a shadetree trailer park mechanic??

I added some r134a this weekend. The problem seems to be fixed. It took about two cans. Pretty easy $20 repair job and the wife will ride with me in the truck again.

So easy a caveman could do it. Good thing you didn't take it to the shop. That might of turned into a $1500 repair.

bad thing is, you still have a leak. It might be working now, but eventuly you will have to add more. might be a month from now, or it might take longer, depends on how bad the leak is.