Intermitten Aircon

[cowman1964]

Hi, new to site, can anyone point me in the right direction, had the mobile air medic round to top up air con, he says its ok but could not really check as wasn't working, and its an electrical problem with power feed.

Ford main dealer also looked at it, took em all day, could not find problem, resorted to independant auto electrician, who said it was one of 4 things but 50% sure it was fan control unit (black box in front of battery), bought another unit, but still intermitten, he now reconds its a gas

problem! car is 1999 2.0 glx. Help please before i go mad!! :( :( :(

[widget]

Hmmm...not sure its the same, but we had our air-con fixed recently from what seemed like an intermittent problem.

 

turned out the magnetic clutch plates for the compresser had become covered in a surface rust/muck through lack of use (and where the compressor is located is exposed to the elements somewhat)

 

when the electromagnet is energised, because the plates are dirty - the compressor doesn't engage.

 

not sure the plates were cleanable - but repeatedly switching on and off the air con was enough to get it working again.

 

we just bought the car a little while ago - and know the previous owner - who said they hadn't used the air-con in ages - and therein lies the problem....

 

you gotta keep using your air-con - even during winter - otherwise it all stops working

 

Graham

 

PS. this might all be bollcoks (other than you really should keep using your aircon - at least 5 minutes a week) but this what was relayed to me via the previous owner when they took the car to Ford.