i noticed my a/c compressor doesn't go on and he other day i switched it to defrost and it stayed on the vents,,and sometimes(rarely) i have a bad ible where it seems to be gasping for air,,,sounds vacuum related,,but mechanic found nothing wrong(with idle problem),,also when it acts up,,it feels like i am not getting fuel,,but i had fuel pump replaced 2 months ago,,,i am concerned about the a/c and compressor not kicking on,,,any ideas?...thanks,,,mark

Low freon, bad relay, bad fuse are just three possibilities with the ac clutch not kicking in.

yeha....if u have low freon...the pressure switch wont let the compressor kick on cuz the freon has oil in it that keeps ur compressor form lockin up, so low freon means low oil so get it checked out and charged up

when i put the guage on it it registered at 100 psi(in the red),,,before when it worked the pressure would drop in the safe zone,,,could it be too full? if so how do i drain it safely? thanks for all your replies,,i need a/c,,,mark

mine too, It would go from 85 psi to nothing then I would hear a click and it would go up to 85 again and continue to do this. I added freon and it is at 100 psi but still does nothing? It stays on defrost the whole time as well, sorry didn't mean to steal a post, thought yours does same as mine?

Did you find out what the problem was? I have a 98 2500 4x4 and I just replaced the compressor and accumilator and seem to have the same problem. I have located the relay in the engine compartment and checked the relay and it's ok. I haven't found any fuses that are bad. But I didn't see any fuses specifically for the ac unit. Are there any fusable links that could be blown? Freon and pressures are in the specified range. Any help or ideas would be appreciated.

I have a 98 Ram with the 3.9 V-6. Recently I have noticed when the A/C is running and I moderately/heavy accelerate the air flow from the dashboard vents seems to almost complete shut down. The fans sounds like it is still running at the set speed and a trickle of cold air can be felt coming from the windshield defrost vents. Once I stop accelerating and resume a steady speed the A/C seems to work normal. I'm wondering if it is the coolant level or something related to a vacuum line. My Haynes auto manual conveniently omits the entire A/C system. When it gets to be too bothersome I'll have it checked. Anyone have any ideas on things I might be able to look for?? :screwy: