ac and heater problems

I have a 95 Ford Contour GL. when i twist the nob to turn the AC or heater on nothing happens, no noise or anything. I took the car to a buddy's house we took the whole nob plate out of the dash board and ran a wire from the battery to touch the nobs. . .we touched behind one of the nods it started blowing. . .so can anyone tell me what the problem is.

It could possibly be related to the blower motor switch or perhaps the resistor pack. Both are covered under recall.

The resistor pack and associated wiring is covered under safety recall 01S22.

The blower motor switch is covered under campaign 01M07.

To check the resistor pack, get down in the footwell on the passenger's side and look at the ventilation ductwork. You'll see a silver plate snapped into the side of the duct (within a foot of the blower, IIRC), and a wiring harness coming off of it. Remove the wiring harness (with the car off, of course) and pop the resistor pack out of the duct. It will likely be noticeably fried, though you may have to check it with an Ohmmeter to verify that. The resistor pack is about $9 to replace.

Unfortunately, your car is over 10 years old so your car wont be covered under recall anymore.