97 Regal AC HELP! Please!

hey guys, I've had my regal for like 6 weeksish, when we first got I noticed the AC shorted out (or something once) then we turned the car off and messed with a few of the fuses under the hood (the big ones) and after that it worked until recently, my brother borrowed my car for a few days and now tells me the AC won't work, so i finally got around to driving it myself and what happeneds is you turn it on low and it works, then you go past low and it turns off, sometimes it works perfect, sometimes it doesn't work at all, it's all over the place, but when it does work it works 100%! and it's not just the AC it's heat/vent/anything that requires the blower. what else happeneds is what I found very ODD is in the Dash where P R N D lights are those get brighter as soon as the AC kicks off... any help is greatly appreciated, I can not afford to take this to a dealer, Thankyou

-Thetieger

The ignition switch on the lower part of the steering column is going bad and not making proper connections. You can buy one from a local parts store and replace it yourself with some time and hand tools. If you are not experienced in repairs you may want to find a local mechanic to replace it for you. You might want to try a Pep Boys or Firestone as they will be cheaper than the dealer.

What is the lower part of the ignition exactly? I've heard of people having this problem before, but I don't understand why that would just kill the AC, and not the Radio for instance, or any other electronicly based components? how much am I looking at spending? can you link me to the part on somewhere so I get a better understanding ?

The ignition switch is actually located close to the bottom of the steering column. The key you turn activates a rod that moves contacts within this switch and causes the car to start. There are a lot of wires interconnected to this switch and if they do not receive power when the ignition is in the on position they will not work properly. Sometimes when this shorts out it will either send power to the accessories all the time or not at all causing numerous problems. If there is a bad connection then power jumps from one contact to another causing power drain from various accessories.

The other possibility would be that you have a weak battery and it is causing the lights to dim when you turn the AC on. Check both the battery and the alternator connections before doing anything with the ignition switch to be sure that they are working properly. Sometimes the alternator wire will corrode causing it to limit the amount of charge it sends to the battery and other accessories causing problems like you describe. When you turn on the AC the draw from both the alternator and battery increase and if the alternator is not producing enough power you will see symptoms like you describe. I hope this helps. Cleaning terminals and wires are a lot easier than changing ignition switches. PS. Make sure to check the ground wires not just the hot wires.

UPDATE: my bro said the dash lights dim in and out occassioally, and now the AC won't turn on at all :(

does this backup your theory even more?

-Thetieger