I have a 2005 Eddie Bauer Edition and I hit a wild pig in December that demolished the right front end. When the spring time came around, I went to use the AC and it does not blow cold air. The compressor does not kick on. The AC light does come on when I press the switch. I have read about problems with the by-pass door but I do not think that is my problem.

I tried several things and the fuses are good. We had a service man put it on a computer reader and he said the control head (switch panel) is bad. He said that in a wreck, a piece breaks off and if it is soldered back on it will work. Of course the control panel is $1,700. I have looked at all the local yards and no one has a used control panel

I do electronics work and pulled the panel apart looking for a broken transistor , heat sink or cold solder joint and I find nothing broken or loose. All the rest of the system seems to be fine.

Any way of by-passing the control to see if it is bad?

Any help or advice will be appreciated.

Big ND Fan
(from Cajun Country)

 

If the compressor isn't kicking on, run a hot wire to it and see if the clutch engages and air blows cold. You may just find that the wire got unplugged during repairs or damaged during the accident.

 

You could also just flip the guy a 20 and ask him to tell you where the piece is.

 

Look at the condenser for any leaks.
There may be a small crack where oil has leaked out (along with the freon).
Ours got hit by a rock, they're made of aluminum.
The AC guy said he got a lot of business when the nearby freeway was being repaved.
I put a piece of welded wire screen in front of the condenser.
There's a low pressure switch in the system so the compressor will not turn on when the freon pressure is too low.
Have you put a gauge on it to see what the pressure is?

 

I will look for a crack and jump the compressor and let you know what I find.

Thanks for the tips.


Big ND Fan

 

I did jump the clutch and the compressor does work and it cools.

Is there a relay that could be bad?

I figure when the AC switch it turned on, it send a signal for a relay to switch power to the clutch.

If all else fails, I could wire a relay and a toggle switch to make it work.


Let me know if you have an advise.

Thanks for all help

Big ND fan

 

Well, it's good news / bad news. Good news is the system is working, so it doesn't sound like you have an expensive repair. Bad news is it sounds like you have an electrical gremlin, those often take a lot of time to find.

Yes you can run your own line, but you bypass all the system checks, like low/high pressure switches and temperature switches to keep the system from freezing over. If you do this, it's definitely temporary until you get it fixed.

The first thing I'd do is go get the system pressures checked and rule that out. That will help confirm you have an electrical problem. After that, you have to start chasing wires and testing circuits, this is what takes a lot of time.

Good luck

 

I wouldn't recommend doing that. You'd be bypassing both the low and high pressure safety switches and running the risk of trashing the A/C system altogether.

First things first, temporarily unplug the connector from the low pressure switch and jumper it with a wire. If the compressor then runs, your system just needs recharging and the accident could've just been a coincidence.