A/C and Airflow Problems in '98 SSEI
Posted: Mon Jul 01, 2013 1:29 pm
My main problem right now is that the AC does not work at all. The pulley on the compressor is spinning fine, but the compressor never clicks on. I don't know a lot of the technical names for everything, but I think the clutch is never engaging, though I am able to manually spin the AC compressor, so it is not stuck. Even when I have the AC set to minimum on a hot day, the compressor never kicks on.
I examined the cord and connection that connects directly to the compressor, it looked fine to me, I didn't see any corrosion or bad wires. How can I troubleshoot this? Is the whole AC unit bad?
Then my other problem is air flow in the car. First problem is that even when my fan is on max, I don't get much of a blast. But here is the situation: For years I had NO air flow. I suspected a cloggage in the intake somewhere. So I took off the cowl to examine it. At some point a family of mice had apparently been living in there, because the whole intake was filled with stuff. It was all kind of matted into one giant ball and I was able to pull it all out. I don't SEE anything else in there. That restored some of the air flow, and if need be, I can live with that much though obviously more would be much better.
The other symptom though is that only hot air comes out. Even with it at the minimum temperature, or even if I just have it set to circulate air, the air coming out of all the vents is hot when the engine is hot.
I've heard a theory that one of the things that is supposed to move to allow heat in the air is stuck, from more mouse blockage or maybe other reasons. Is that possible? How would I find out?
One last thing to consider too is that for years, the fan or blower or whatever it's called (the thing that produces air flow) was often working hard against a huge blockage, so it was spinning without any air moving, which could have damaged it. It DOES run pretty loud at it's highest setting, I don't know if that means anything.
Sorry for all the info, but I wanted to be thorough. Any thoughts on how I should troubleshoot this? I read numerous other forum posts but didn't find anything that helped me too much. Thanks in advance!
I examined the cord and connection that connects directly to the compressor, it looked fine to me, I didn't see any corrosion or bad wires. How can I troubleshoot this? Is the whole AC unit bad?
Then my other problem is air flow in the car. First problem is that even when my fan is on max, I don't get much of a blast. But here is the situation: For years I had NO air flow. I suspected a cloggage in the intake somewhere. So I took off the cowl to examine it. At some point a family of mice had apparently been living in there, because the whole intake was filled with stuff. It was all kind of matted into one giant ball and I was able to pull it all out. I don't SEE anything else in there. That restored some of the air flow, and if need be, I can live with that much though obviously more would be much better.
The other symptom though is that only hot air comes out. Even with it at the minimum temperature, or even if I just have it set to circulate air, the air coming out of all the vents is hot when the engine is hot.
I've heard a theory that one of the things that is supposed to move to allow heat in the air is stuck, from more mouse blockage or maybe other reasons. Is that possible? How would I find out?
One last thing to consider too is that for years, the fan or blower or whatever it's called (the thing that produces air flow) was often working hard against a huge blockage, so it was spinning without any air moving, which could have damaged it. It DOES run pretty loud at it's highest setting, I don't know if that means anything.
Sorry for all the info, but I wanted to be thorough. Any thoughts on how I should troubleshoot this? I read numerous other forum posts but didn't find anything that helped me too much. Thanks in advance!