We had some pretty hard monsoon downpours yesterday, and I was driving, I noticed that the AC was not blowing cold air anymore. Turning off the AC, then turning it back on solved the problem. From my experience with a toyota camry, the belt drive was slipping on the AC compressor, and the unit would automatically turn the AC off. Anyone else have a problem?

 

Basically the A/C is a dehumidier...it cools the air but also dries it out as well. So in certain cases when the weather is very damp the AC won't work that well. There's nothing wrong with it, that's just the way A/C's work.

For example, if you turned on the AC on a hot humid day in Florida, it would take a lot longer to get cold than a hot day in California.


But if your AC isn't getting cold at all, then there might be something wrong with it. Usually a slipping belt will cause a squealing sound, especially during acceleration.

 

Sounds like the clutch pack on the compressor got wet and started slipping or something, since you say when you turned it off/on again, it came back. Hopefully that doesn't happen too much, though...I can't imagine repetitive slipping does too much good to the clutch material.

Wet, slipping belt is also possible.

I don't really understand how the compressor could get that wet, though. The lower platic fender liner should protect the compressor from splashes. The only thing I can think of is that your (lowered?) car went through a large enough puddle to submerge the compressor. It sits pretty low on the engine.
Only other idea is a flaky relay.

 

could be the belt slipin due to a worn out compressor or stuck pulley

 

Perhaps you should read up on HVAC systems and how they operate.

The only factors the effect the cooling capacity of a properly functioning A/C sytem are outside air temp and sun load.

An A/C does dehumidify the air, but that has no effect on it's cooling capacity.

 

was it really worth the 5yr old bump?