Dead compressor?

[phewop118]

My car's doing it again. The a/c compressor will not come on. I posted back in the spring about it not working. Seems it was low on refridgerant, so they recharged it and it worked great. I did not drive my car for a week, as i was away a few weeks ago and now the compressor will not come on, whether for a/c or defrost as it normally should. I'm wondering if anyone else has had this happen. i might just try to have it recharged again, tho not til spring. But last time they did it, they injected a dye, so maybe they can find the leak and it'll be cheap. Yeah right. I have the "econ" button on my hvac panel, unlike some w/the a/c button, which flashes when the compressor won't work. I know certain models of the control unit had faulty a/c switches, but mine's an 01 and i think the bugs were ruled out by then. Any input is greatly appreciated. By the way, I have now had my Intrigue for exactly 1 year and i still love every bit as much as i did when i bought it 25,000 miles ago.

[busboy4]

Hi
I have not had problems with my A/C yet, but I have dabbled with my Ford's a bit. I would doubt that the compressor itself has suffered a failure in that it worked a week ago. Perhaps the compressor clutch. With that said I would think the most likely to be refrigerant. (Note: suppositions follow ) There should be a pressure switch that signals the system to run. If the refrigerant charge is low, the switch will remain open and the system will not run. If you are a DIY'er I would purchase a simple Freon 134a guage set. It should have changeable ends to measure the low and high side. Take a low side measurement after the car has sat for a long while. The low side port should be on the aluminum tube on the firewall. Let us know what you find. As I recall in my '99 manual, for this initial test it asks "is the reading at least 30psi?" That would be a good place to start. If the pressure is good, then perhaps the low pressure sensor (clutch cycling switch) has failed, or again perhaps the clutch.

I am no expert and have not had an A/C compressor fail, but, with a full freon charge, and all other things normal I believe the system will engage and attempt to run even a failed compressor.

[99intriguePA]

Is your compressor clutch not working or are you just not getting cold air? If the compressor clutch isn't kicking in it could also be the A/C relay in the underhood fuse panel. Replaced mine ($17 I think) this summer and the clutch works now - you have to check if the clutch is kicking in when you turn the A/C on.

[phewop118]

Nope. The compressor is not even kicking in. Last time it did the same thing and it was low on refridgerant. However, last time the a/c got warmer over time and eventually, the compressor failed to turn on. This time, I didn't drive the car for over a week (the a/c was very cold before that), and the compressor just won't kick in. How do i check the relay?

[99intriguePA]

I just took a chance and bought the relay - and it worked. Don't know if there's a way to test them. I also thought it might generate a code on the comp., but it didn't.
It turned out that my system was also low on refrig. but that didn't stop the clutch from kicking in once I replaced the relay.