Been a while since I've posted here. On my 03 a week or so ago my AC quit cooling. Worked well one day was blowing hot air the next. The AC button on the dashboard still lights up. I'm not sure if the compressor clutch is kicking in, I'm assuming that if line pressure was low it wouldn't? Any suggestions on troubleshooting?
I would say first get the hood open and visually verify whether the compressor clutch is engaging or not. If it is not engaging, unplug the wire from the compressor and verify whether you are getting 12 volts or not at the plug with AC on. I recently had to repair my air conditioning, I was getting the 12 volts at the compressor but the clutch wasn't engaging. I ordered a new compressor clutch coil from eBay for $39. Once installed my air conditioning works great. If when your air conditioning is turned on you do not get 12 volts at the compressor plug then you have to get into your little fuse and relay box under the hood. There are previous posts outlining how to troubleshoot there.
Thanks for your reply. I'll pop out my test light. Finally had a chance to look at compressor today and indeed clutch is not engaging. Since it worked great, then didn't I'm inclined to think refrigerant is fine.
svt4cam wrote: ↑Tue Aug 25, 2020 8:26 pm
Can the coil be done with compressor in the car so I don't have to recharge?
Yep. Take passenger tire off and reach through the wheel well. You'll need a torx bit to remove the outer piece, some good quality snap ring pliers to remove the snap rings, and patience to undo the stupid single wire hard-to-pinch electrical connector.
I got the torx bolt out using a screwdriver to wedge between one of the triangle corners and stop the pulley from spinning while I removed the torx bolt with a ratchet. Then I got the first snap ring out. When it was time to get the second snap bring out that actually held the coil in, unfortunately I could not get my snap ring pliers to work. If the holes had been on the lower left quadrant at around 7 o clock on the clock face I would have been able to take that snap ring out. But the holes were more at 2 o'clock position. So I had to unbolt the compressor so I could rotate it a little bit. I did leave all lines attached though.
mrarcade wrote: ↑Thu Aug 27, 2020 4:47 pm
I got the torx bolt out using a screwdriver to wedge between one of the triangle corners and stop the pulley from spinning while I removed the torx bolt with a ratchet. Then I got the first snap ring out. When it was time to get the second snap bring out that actually held the coil in, unfortunately I could not get my snap ring pliers to work. If the holes had been on the lower left quadrant at around 7 o clock on the clock face I would have been able to take that snap ring out. But the holes were more at 2 o'clock position. So I had to unbolt the compressor so I could rotate it a little bit. I did leave all lines attached though.