I had been all happy up until now that the A/C in my Sedan never gave me any probelms. On of the only cars I owned that the A/C worked. A month ago or so was the 1st time I really used the A/C this year and it was working just fine(I try to remember to turn it on at least a few times throughout the winter to keep it running). Then just a week later I turn it on and get nothing, I could feel the compressor wasn't kicking on. So I went to my buddy's house that has all the stuff to work on A/C. We found we could jump the low pressure switch and it would kick on, so I must have finally gotten low. Now this kinda sucks because it still had the old r-12 that gets colder, and now I am going to have to move to 134 . So we pull a vacuum and notice that it won't hold. So we juice it with 134 and get out the sniffer, found that the low pressure rubber hose going to the compressor was leaking. Take it off and goto the local hose shop, they rebuild it for me and we put it all back together. Pull a vacuum and it seems to be holding much better, im starting to feel much better. So then we juice it up and turn on the A/C... nothing, won't kick on, fans come on engine idles up, but the clutch just won't engage. WTF!?!??! I tested the lead going to the clutch and it seems fine 12volts as soon as you hit the button. How would my A/C clutch just die like that, and with out using it. It would kick on just fine before we replaced the line... I just don't understand. Do you guys have any idea or I am I just going to have to break down and buy a new compressor?

 

You know i had a similar situation , everything tested fine as far as the switch, relays,low pressure switch and the thermo switch, but when i jumped my pressure switch nothing would kick on, then i let it go to do something real quick and where i jumped it , the paperclip had touched a bolt on the car and the fans and the compressor kicked on and worked great until you took it off , and i still dont have a clue to what is making it work when you touch it to metal, other than it is grounding out., this doesnt help you much other than one more thing to try and maybe narrow it down to some thing else, unless the clutch just locked up, and it could but i dont know why it would.

 

ttt, anybody have a clue whats going on?

 

bumpity bump bump

 

just wondering, but have you checked your condenser fan fuse up where the underhood fuse box is at?

My compressor kept blowing fuses because the wire insulation had cracked due to age. I fixed it with liquid electrical tape.

 

After you pull a vacume on the system, you need to put in about a can and a half, before the low pressure switch will allow the clutch to be engaged. You can power the clutch, directly, temporarily, by disconnecting the bullet connection which is about 6-8 inches from the compressor. Take a wire and short out between the positive terminal on the battery and that wire, and it will force the clutch to engage, or something with either the clutch or the thermal switch on the compressor is shot. You need to run the engine, force the clutch to engage, add two cans of refrigerant, stop the engine, reconnect the cable to the clutch, restart the engine and A/C and finish adding refrigerant until you get rid of the bubbles in the sight glass. Before two cans, the clutch won't engage, just as you have described.

 

oh man, don't mean to be an *** here cause I know I am the one looking for help but uhhhh, are you guys reading what I wrote?? The wire is getting 12v, I shouldn't have to force the clutch to come on if the wire is going hot. Tell me more about this thermal swtich could this be it, can I test it, how would it go out?

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by JesseCRX &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">just wondering, but have you checked your condenser fan fuse up where the underhood fuse box is at?

My compressor kept blowing fuses because the wire insulation had cracked due to age. I fixed it with liquid electrical tape.</TD></TR></TABLE>
Read above about reading my post, you should note I said the fans came on so it would seem to be safe to assume that the fan fuse is in good shape.

 

Well, it wouldn't hurt to check it. I found that the AC compressor and the fan both run off the same fuse. It will just be one less thing to worry about.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by JesseCRX &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Well, it wouldn't hurt to check it. I found that the AC compressor and the fan both run off the same fuse. It will just be one less thing to worry about.</TD></TR></TABLE>
How could the fuse be bad if the fans come on?