Got in the car today to go to lunch, and as the title says, I had no A/C, only ambient temp air coming out of the vents. The A/C compressor isn't coming on, and the cooling fan dosn't turn on, even after letting the car idle in the driveway, with the temp guage up to the "O" in NORMAL. No CE light, no error message in the EATC, and no blown fuses in the cabin or under the hood. Any ideas? I'd like to have an idea of where to start before just throwing parts at it. Thanks!
No A/C or cooling fan
- Thread starter MonoPed
- Start date
Yep, Driller is right about the fan affect the temp out of your registers. Make sure it isn't clogged either. However it shouldn't prevent the compressor from coming on at all. It should come on initially but after that it might come on less often because of the fan not working.
Does the temp of the air out of the vents change when you drive? Like if you get on the highway do you get cold air? If it does then it is from the fan not working or your condenser being clogged/blocked.
If you don't then it sounds like you have another problem, perhaps the pressure switch or the clutch on your compressor. It could also be as simple as you are out of freon. The pressure switch should be easy to change, you can jumper that connection to test to clutch. Don't do either until you verify there is freon in the system.
Does the temp of the air out of the vents change when you drive? Like if you get on the highway do you get cold air? If it does then it is from the fan not working or your condenser being clogged/blocked.
If you don't then it sounds like you have another problem, perhaps the pressure switch or the clutch on your compressor. It could also be as simple as you are out of freon. The pressure switch should be easy to change, you can jumper that connection to test to clutch. Don't do either until you verify there is freon in the system.
I know when my cooling fan started acting up, the first clue was no cold air with the AC on. I checked under the hood and the first thing I noticed was the AC compressor not running. The second thing I noticed was the cooling fan was not on. Wigging the cooling fan plug coaxed the cooling fan to start running. Moments later the AC compressor was running and I had cold air again.
Technically, I believe the refridgerant pressure sensor tells the VCRM something is amiss and disengages the AC compressor clutch.
Technically, I believe the refridgerant pressure sensor tells the VCRM something is amiss and disengages the AC compressor clutch.
That sounds exactly like the symptoms my car is having. I reached in and spun the fan blade by hand, and it spun freely. Hopefully it's as simple a fix as yours was, or maybe just a fan motor.
It's pretty basic replacing just the fan motor. Eventually, that's what I had to do to my '93.
Check high current fuse
Check high current fuse
The AC and cooling fan are fused together for overheating protection, Check under hood, fuse #16. I recently had same problem on 96; the fan motor bushings were going out and causing the fuse to blow. I would then lose AC and after engine warmed, the radiator would overflow. Replaced fan motor from junk yard and solved problem.
I do also have poor AC cycling problem but will replace cycling switch and pressure switch to see if this solves problem, both very cheap from Rockauto.
Pressure is ok when AC switches on but I know there is a slow leak and therefore may be a moisture or dirt problem as well. Any suggestions?
Check high current fuse
The AC and cooling fan are fused together for overheating protection, Check under hood, fuse #16. I recently had same problem on 96; the fan motor bushings were going out and causing the fuse to blow. I would then lose AC and after engine warmed, the radiator would overflow. Replaced fan motor from junk yard and solved problem.
I do also have poor AC cycling problem but will replace cycling switch and pressure switch to see if this solves problem, both very cheap from Rockauto.
Pressure is ok when AC switches on but I know there is a slow leak and therefore may be a moisture or dirt problem as well. Any suggestions?
A slow leak is usually the 'o'-ring seals in the lines. You can have a leak detector put in and try to find the source of the leak.
jamies98lsc
Registered
the vlcm controls both the cooling fan and ac comp. if the vlcm, or ( vcrm ) goes bad neither will work. recently this happened in my 98, the car was running hot and my ac wasnt working. i took it to an ac specialist, and they said your car is overheating, i said no it isnt, so he took me into the bay and showed me the temp gauge, sure thing it was, i didnt even notice, i wiggled the wire on the fan and boom, everything worked perfect. the clip on my fan motor where the wire harness snaps in, was cracked and partially broken, so the plugged worked its way out, i changed fans and all better. never had a problem since.