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Panoscopic
11-11-2001, 06:01 AM
Hey, its cold now and thought it would be a good time to work on my A/C as it quit just at the end of summer.

The compressor clutch no longer engages. I checked for power, there is none coming to the clutch. What is the next step? Is there a fuse anywhere to check?

woodybeone
11-11-2001, 07:05 AM
Disconnect the compressor lead and hold it to the positive battery terminal with the engine running and see if the clutch engages. If it will not engage then you need a new clutch. However on this system if there is no gas in the system the clutch will not engage so to save the compressor. If you by-pass the wiring and go directly to the battery it should still engage even with no gas in the system , just don't leave it engaged to long.
As far as troubleshooting the electrics, you will only get voltage on that wire when the control is set to cold and the AC is on and there is gas in the system. There is a clutch relay on the RH shock tower and a fuse (25 amp)for this system that contols the fans and the AC in the main panel.
If the clutch engages when held to the battery you probably have a leak in the system.

Panoscopic
11-11-2001, 08:27 AM
Woody: - I checked the power before the relay and there was none. System is full - I just did a 134 retrofit a little while ago and it was running fine. The fans runs OK too. My guess is that the next step is to go upstream to the main control.

wagdriver
11-13-2001, 11:42 AM
Check the pressure switch on passenger side finder well. pull it off and jump it out. If the compressor runs then you may be low on refrigerant. Check the charge with gages if the charge is low you have a leak some where. Depending on your expertise, find the leak with soap bubbles or a leak detector. If you don't feel comfortable doing this kind of stuff then a trip to the A/C shop is in order. ;)
Woody's way will work also but like he said don't run the compressor to long if you don't know how much refrigerant is in the system. Attaching gages is the only way to find this out.

;)

[ November 13, 2001: Message edited by: wagdriver ]