A/C Relay Under Battery Tray

[tklagesse67]

I took out my battery tray and looked for this relay. Where exactly is this relay? I saw a post from veedubmechanic where he said that it was upside down, but I still could not find it. Please advise as to the exact location! Haynes manual does not point to this specific relay, and I can't find it in the wiring diagrams.

This is the one thing I have left to check to see if I can get my A/C clutch to engage. The A/C light comes on in the car both fuses are good. The fuse box on top of the battery was replaced, too, but that was during winter when I was not using the A/C.

Please help my sick car.

[hako]

I've never located that relay either!...but in the Haynes there seems to be many many possible sources of problems. But to keep it simple why not try hotwiring the compressor just to make sure there is still gas in the system - you only need to run a hot wire to the electric clutch for a second or two...or locate the hi/lo pressure switch - usually on the receiver/dryer and bridge the contacts there to force the compressor on. If there is no or low gas then the electrics don't matter.
Good Luck.

[tklagesse67]

I have not done that yet, thank you. But, I did check the pressure and it was a whopping 100+ on the LOW pressure side. I let it out down to below 20, then tried running the A/C again. The clutch did not engage, but the pressure started to climb again to above 40, to which I shut it down and started banging my head against the wall.... again.

[sgdahlg]

My beetle's A/C has decided to stage a protest as well. My compressor clutch kicks in but my r134a pressure is over 100. I see you had that same problem. How did you get it to come back down to 20?

[veedubmechanic]

If the low pressure is over 100 you either have it way overcharged or the h-block is stuck closed (the little block deal in the plastic cover on the passenger side firewall)

[tklagesse67]

I had not checked this in a while. I am still having issues. I took the car to Eurocars of Jackson, TN, for a diag ($100), and they told me that the A/C dash control unit was bad. I found that interesting since the A/C button and recirc buttons still lit up when turned on. Oh well. I bought a used one for 1/6th the cost and installed it myself. Of course, that was not the problem. Still getting 100+ psi on the low side, and that was after them evacuating and refilling my system.

I will check the H-block mentioned above.

I will state again, too, that there is NO electric going to the compressor. I jumpered the high pressure switch, and the fans came on, but the compressor didn't.

I think I will do what was recommended in another post and take it to an A/C specialist, instead of a general repair center.

[JackDaniels386]

the "relay" ur looking for is the fan control module. all u can see from up top when u remove the battery is 2 10 millimeter bolt heads that bolt the box to the bottom side of the chassis where the battery tray sits. Its a black box with 2 connectors on it.

[tklagesse67]

Originally Posted by JackDaniels386

the "relay" ur looking for is the fan control module. all u can see from up top when u remove the battery is 2 10 millimeter bolt heads that bolt the box to the bottom side of the chassis where the battery tray sits. Its a black box with 2 connectors on it.

I was wondering about that. I had checked out Autozone.com and they actually show having an A/C relay for my bug. But, they also had the FCM.

I bought a brand new FCM off eBay and installed it over the weekend. I had hoped that would do the trick, but it didn't. I am glad I replaced it, though, as when I took it out, the box was cracked at the screw mount and exposed the circuit board inside!

It is a pain in the booty to change out, too!!

Thanks for the response!