first thing you need to do is have somebody turn on the a/c and watch the compressor. If it cycles on and off quickly ( watch the clutch on the front of the a/c pulley) then you have a low freeon charge and that means you have a leak.
the way you are describing this sounds like you have a low Freon charge. You need to try and find the leak.. The main clue is your surging idle, when you have a low Freon charge the compressor short cycles and the EEC can not compensate quickly enough to regulate the idle..
The best way to go about doing that is to add dye to a fresh charge and use UV light and goggles to look for the leak.
Yes, what you describe is "short cycling" which indicates that the system has a low charge. If it has a low charge, that means it has lost refrigerant. If it has lost refrigerant, that means that there is a leak. If you charge it, that refrigerant will leak out as well.
Find and fix the leak, then evacuate and recharge the system.
Yes, what you describe is "short cycling" which indicates that the system has a low charge. If it has a low charge, that means it has lost refrigerant. If it has lost refrigerant, that means that there is a leak. If you charge it, that refrigerant will leak out as well.
Find and fix the leak, then evacuate and recharge the system.
But don't mess with evacuating the system unless you know what you're doing. I had a helluva time on a friend of mine's car .... The UV dye works good as SVT suggested, just check all the lines with the light and the condenser area .... Good luck.