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Compressor running when not turned on?

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Old Oct 24, 2019 | 02:00 AM
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bradleyheathhays's Avatar
bradleyheathhays
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Compressor running when not turned on?

I have an '02 Taurus with 85k miles on her that I just bought. Today when I was checking something under the hood I noticed this metal line cold and dripping with water...




I had the air on but turned to the position of arrows pointing out of the dash and floor vents only. The defrost or a/c function was not selected. It seems to be doing it consistently. I haven't traced all the parts of this car's a/c system yet but I don't know of anything else under a hood that turns cold and sweats. Why would my compressor be working when it's not selected? What tests should I run?
 
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Old Oct 24, 2019 | 07:46 AM
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Yes, that means the compressor is running. It runs in EVERY position EXCEPT OFF, VENT, and FLOOR. Since you had selected dash and floor the compressor will run. The reason it runs is to lower the humidity in the car to keep the windows from fogging.
 
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Old Oct 25, 2019 | 12:47 PM
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I've since been told Ford designed it to turn on in the mode I was running it and the only mode the compressor doesn't come on is the floor only. Who knew.
 
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Old Oct 25, 2019 | 09:25 PM
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Mark Kovalsky
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Originally Posted by bradleyheathhays
I've since been told Ford designed it to turn on in the mode I was running it and the only mode the compressor doesn't come on is the floor only. Who knew.
Well, that's just wrong. Below is the correct information.

Originally Posted by Mark Kovalsky
Yes, that means the compressor is running. It runs in EVERY position EXCEPT OFF, VENT, and FLOOR. Since you had selected dash and floor the compressor will run. The reason it runs is to lower the humidity in the car to keep the windows from fogging.
 
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