air conditioning compresser

[PeteK]

Holger, you have omitted some key information. Did you take it to a Ford dealer or other shop, and did they positively diagnose the problem? What were those results?

The first step in troubleshooting an A/C problem is to check the refrigerant. A quick and dirty way to do that (if you don’t have professional equipment) is to start adding a can of refrigerant. If the compressor begins to cycle again, then you found the problem. You can do this in your home garage. If it does not cycle after you have added a can, then check the pressure switch(es) for continuity. Again, you can do this in your garage. If the pressure switches show continuity, then you can test the compressor clutch operation. At this point, it gets harder to do at home, so if you aren’t a DIY, you’ll have to go to a shop. Replacing a pressure switch will require removing the refrigerant from the system, then evacuating and refilling.

Let us know what your shop or your troubleshooting find.

And ditto what fjpikul and twobjshelbys said: buy the wiring diagram book on eBay or another source. Ideally, you want all four books. See pic.

 

[Mr.Charger]

Hi Pete,
thank you for the detailed information. I hafted the car at a big Ford Dealership in Germany they are service point for the GT´s and NGT´s and own cars by themselves. They did check the pressure / made a refill of the unit but that didn't help. Because of lack of time I had to pick up the car again for a rally, they could not check compressor and switches.

Today I dropped the car at a smaller FORD Dealer near by where I have my RAPTOR serviced as well. They will put it to a machine that will automatically empty/refill, check for pressure leaks, if so uses contrast fluid to find it etc. If that doesn't help they will check the switches/clutch/compressor, I printed yours and previous advices from this forum for them and they will take care of it. I will let you know the results soon.

Regarding the books I will order all available (have already the workshop book as PDF) and keep it with the car as this beauty will never leave again.

 

[Mr.Charger]

For anyone interested in the stories ending : it was a fuse ….
The dealer called me they did all works to be done 8break fluid and oil change9 and then refilled the ac, pressure was a little down. Still didn’t work after that and they checked all the fuses and found one dead … simple solution and the other dealer last year could have checked that as well first … or me myself maybe ? Finally happy everything fine now and lot’s of miles left to put on her this summer …
Thanks to everyone for the help and ride safe

 

[HighHP]

Seems there might be more to the story. If a fuse for the compressor was out, the compressor would not run. If the blower fan fuse was out, no air would blow. Neither of these would require A/C recharge. Not sure of any fuse that would allow everything to operate but not blow cold????
Anyway, the important thing is that it is now working.

 

[PeteK]

Thanks for the final report. Yeah, “check the fuses “ should have been among the first things you or a shop did! Hopefully, the fuse popping was not due to excessive current.

About fuses: after many heat cycles and buildup of corrosion, fuses do crack or pop, even without an excessive current load. They just wear out. A good rule I got from an old Mercedes diesel guru and friend was to replace the fuses every 10 years. These were the old style ceramic fuses used in German cars up until the mid-80’s or so, and the fuse elements were open and exposed to air. The newer plug-in plastic cased fuses don’t corrode internally, but they are still subject to heat cycles. They seem to last longer, but at some point the thermal cycles will cause them to fail too.

Now that our 05-06 cars are approaching 2 decades, we need to watch for this problem.

 

[PeteK]

Seems there might be more to the story. If a fuse for the compressor was out, the compressor would not run. If the blower fan fuse was out, no air would blow. Neither of these would require A/C recharge. Not sure of any fuse that would allow everything to operate but not blow cold????
Anyway, the important thing is that it is now working.

Yes, that is a good question. I can say from experience with other cars that if the compressor is not running, the blower and climate controls will operate, it just won’t blow cold air. If his fuse was for the compressor clutch, that would cause those symptoms.

Mr.Charger: can you tell us which fuse was blown? I will change mine preemptively.

 

[Mr.Charger]

@HighHP : I will get detailed info when I pick up the car but it will take another 2 weeks not In town the next days. I imagine it might be like Pete said that the compressor was not working, blower delivered just air from the front, all switches of the ac were working small led lit when on but warm air from the front. They will tell me which fuse and said they put me some spare in the car as well. Will keep you informed definitely

 

[Mr.Charger]

Driving without ac is the pain in the a… when it’s warm. Did the whole Norway Rally - 7 days of driving 400 I’m a day - last year with windows down and was lucky no rain because that will not work with our door shape. Through Denmark I had 6 hours rain and it got really hot in the car

 

[fjpikul]

If you changed brake fluid, hope you changed clutch fluid at same time.

 

[Mr.Charger]

If you changed brake fluid, hope you changed clutch fluid at same time.

I‘m sure they didn’t only breakes an motor oil. Clutch fluid was changed last year because I had a problem with the clutch pedal not coming back up when it was hot. Problem fixed, did the rally and all fine. I was lucky to buy the car with 400 miles on it, was never really driven and registered. Came from a collector from Florida he had 3 same cars and they were all for sale here in Germany with 40/400 and 600 miles brand new condition.