Cause
Blocked or restricted condenser
The air conditioning condenser blocked, so it cannot reject heat to the outside air. The condenser sits at the very front of the vehicle, ahead of the radiator, which is precisely where road debris, insects and leaves accumulate first.
A condenser that cannot shed heat raises high-side pressure, and the module cuts the compressor to protect the system — so the complaint is cooling that works briefly and then stops, repeatedly, in exactly the hot weather when it is wanted. Poor cooling that gets worse the longer the system runs is this pattern.
External blockage is far commoner than internal and is free to check — look through the matrix towards a light. Internal restriction happens after a compressor failure, when debris from the compressor is carried through and lodges in the condenser's small passages; a system that fails again shortly after a compressor replacement usually has a condenser full of the old compressor. Check the cooling fans too, since a condenser relies on them at low road speed and a fan fault produces identical symptoms.
Typically a moderate job.
Codes this can cause (3)
Codes where this is a likely explanation first, rather than merely a possible one.
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