I turned on my air contitioner for the first time in about 3 months and I got nothing. The light came on the button, but the compressor never kicked on. Does the air conditioner have a fuse that may have popped or ?

Any ideas?

Thanks

If the freon is low the compressor wont kick on.

Do you know how I can check to see if it's low? Is there a sight glass and where would I find it? I'm guessing it uses R12?

Thanks

Yeah its R12 unless it has been converted to 134a. If it hasnt been converted and you have a leak you are going to have to convert it to 134a. Go to your local shop and have them do an a/c test. usually costs around 30-50 bucks to check it out. But it you do have a leak you are going to spend some money to fix it.

It might also the the coil on the compressor itself. Unplug it and see if voltage is running through it. Try to do this with the engine off or pull the plug first and test it away from the moving parts then turn the engine on. If there is no voltage, then check the AC fuse, No use in checking your condensor window if the compressor is not on, nothing to look at since its the freon is not moving. Or, you get no juice to the connector but the fuse is good, maybe freon is low, try to manually run a hot to the connectors on the compressor, this will tell you if the coil is good or not. I've tested for this and on three occassions on other peoples car that was the problem, we bought the part and changed the compressor coil ourselves. So if you get the compressor to turn and the air is warm...freon is low, if it gets cold (and the compresor connector is hot), then the compressor coil is bad.

Sidebar:
Its a good thing to run your AC at least once a month, every month, the freon is actually a lubricant for the ac hoses. Same with the heater hoses in the summer time. Turm them on every once in a while to change the fluids in the hoses and heator core.

Thank you Fish Hunter. Could you give me an idea where the fuse is located?

Thanks

There are 2 fuse panels, behind the drivers kick panel, and under the hood. Check them both.

Under the hood, locate the A/C compressor, follow both hoses back for there, and sooner or later you'll find the sight glass.

If you're low on freon checking for 12V at the compressor won't tell you anything. But you can take 12V direct from the battery and see if the mag clutch works.

If the compressor wont go on when you hit the switch, and you manually jump it to kick on, you are able to at least start the AC. If the freon is low, the sight glass will show bubbles and or the air will not be cold (ahem.....low freon and'or leak). If you try to jump the compressor to start and the air is cold, then it's not a freon problem but the coil in the compressor might be bad.

Just me two cents....

For some reason my A/C fuse is to the right of the glovebox. Quite a pain to get to.

My A/C also quit working. I think it is the pressure switch...not enough pressure for it to turn on. Most unreliable part of the vehicle for me has been the A/C

My truck sat for a few years before I bought it. The A/C didn't work. It sat another year while I built it and another year before I looked at the AC. The AC shop charged it up w/the new stuff (not the R12 it used) and it's been working great since.


The pressure switch is in the duct, below the glove box IIRC. Jump that connector and see if the compressor turns on. If it does turn it off right away so it doesn't lock up. then have it serviced.

Is it the same spot on 2nd gen runners? I'll probably check soon anyways.

PS Like your line below the avatar Cheese eating surrender monkey!

We manually jumped the coil and compressor but it doesn't kick on. I need to check the A/C fuse, but I can't find it anyplace. I had my dash apart and removed the A/C Switch, I'm thinking I might have blown the fuse when I took the dash apart because it was blowing cold and working well before I took it apart.

Any ideas? I'm trying to keep from paying Dealer $85 an hour to change what might be nothing more than a blown fuse.

My ac fuse was on the far right side near/behind the glovebox/passenger side kickpanel area.

I am sure it would be nice to find the fuse but if you jumped the clutch "correctly" and it didn't come on, thats at least part of the problem. I don't have any data on clutch failure but it seems to me unlikely the clutch is skewed. Most likely you tested it incorrectly. I know using a test light or a volt meter is new to many guys but using one is a "great" thing to do and will help you for years to come. If it were my truck and couldn't find the fuse I would turn on the AC and back probe the compressor clutch connector, with it disconnected. You may use a test light or volt meter. I would use a test light one side on one terminal and the other side on the other. If you see a light, well the clutch is your problem area. Most systems use a low pressure cut out system, a switch in line and some systems use a power steering cutout system. In this case those switches if faulty will could cause the clutch to have its power cut. Typing this takes a lot of time but doing the tests really takes a minute or two. Good luck on your project...

Glove box four corners. LR is10mm, other 3 screws are phillips #2 bit. takeGB out of way after unclipping the 2 electricals, set aside. Look at wall to right for fuse n relays. Remove a 10mm screw and the container/holder pulls off wall so to easily inspect or remove the fuses or relays. Most likely the pressure switch needs replaced as culpret of
ac clutch nor engaging. IMO

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