AC only working when REALLY HOT!
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Joined: Aug 2007
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AC only working when REALLY HOT!
Hey,
I have an 83 300D Turbo and I had the AC working great, then I realized that my alternator was bad, so I pulled it, had it rebuilt and put it back in. As I was pulling the car out of the garage with the new alternator I heard a "click" around the climate control and I lost all AC, including fan blowing, etc.
Then the next day I was driving it (and it was very hot outside) and the climate control was set to "MIN" temp and full fan but still not working, then as it got pretty hot inside the car I heard another "click" and voila I had my AC back!!!
It periodically decides to "click" and die again but usually when I put it on low fan because its getting too cold or if I try to turn down the temp from "MIN". Then I have to wait for a hot day again where I can get it to kick back in.
Can anyone tell me if it sounds like a sure thing that it is the control unit? I pulled the unit and tried re-soldering all the connections and cleaning the contacts on the temp wheel but no go. I did notice that under one of the coils the board it was soldered to was pretty brown like it had gotten overheated at some point.
I assume that the "click" is from a relay that the control unit controls, could that be sticking where is it located?
I think there is also a temp sensor somewhere for the control unit, could I mine have gone bad and now is only working when it gets REALLY hot? How do I test it?
I suspect I don't have a serious problem to fix here but I am not familiar enough with the climate system to figure out what my symptoms point to.
Thanks for any help on this!
Trevor.
I have an 83 300D Turbo and I had the AC working great, then I realized that my alternator was bad, so I pulled it, had it rebuilt and put it back in. As I was pulling the car out of the garage with the new alternator I heard a "click" around the climate control and I lost all AC, including fan blowing, etc.
Then the next day I was driving it (and it was very hot outside) and the climate control was set to "MIN" temp and full fan but still not working, then as it got pretty hot inside the car I heard another "click" and voila I had my AC back!!!
It periodically decides to "click" and die again but usually when I put it on low fan because its getting too cold or if I try to turn down the temp from "MIN". Then I have to wait for a hot day again where I can get it to kick back in.
Can anyone tell me if it sounds like a sure thing that it is the control unit? I pulled the unit and tried re-soldering all the connections and cleaning the contacts on the temp wheel but no go. I did notice that under one of the coils the board it was soldered to was pretty brown like it had gotten overheated at some point.
I assume that the "click" is from a relay that the control unit controls, could that be sticking where is it located?
I think there is also a temp sensor somewhere for the control unit, could I mine have gone bad and now is only working when it gets REALLY hot? How do I test it?
I suspect I don't have a serious problem to fix here but I am not familiar enough with the climate system to figure out what my symptoms point to.
Thanks for any help on this!
Trevor.
Thread Starter
Newbie
Joined: Aug 2007
Posts: 3
Likes: 0
UPDATE
I have put in a rebuilt climate control unit and now I have fan control again but AC still doesn't get kicked in. I checked refridgerant pressure and it is good, but I don't have any power at the compressor or the unit that is in the front passenger corner with the pressure switch (can't remember what it is called).
So I am thinking that I have a bad relay that is switching in power to the compressor, etc. and that is the "click" that I would hear before when things would just start working. I can't find any informaiton about any compressor relays on this car on the internet, I have found references to a "Klima" relay, which sounds like what I might need to look for, but one posting said that my 83 300d doesn't have a Klima relay.
So does anyone know what relay switches power to the compressor and where it is located?
Thanks,
Trevor.
I have put in a rebuilt climate control unit and now I have fan control again but AC still doesn't get kicked in. I checked refridgerant pressure and it is good, but I don't have any power at the compressor or the unit that is in the front passenger corner with the pressure switch (can't remember what it is called).
So I am thinking that I have a bad relay that is switching in power to the compressor, etc. and that is the "click" that I would hear before when things would just start working. I can't find any informaiton about any compressor relays on this car on the internet, I have found references to a "Klima" relay, which sounds like what I might need to look for, but one posting said that my 83 300d doesn't have a Klima relay.
So does anyone know what relay switches power to the compressor and where it is located?
Thanks,
Trevor.
