Intermittant Air Con Problem

[Parf]

Hi all,

Im having an air con problem im hoping someone can help me with. I have had the air con serviced and they found a leak where the pipes were joining so they fixed it, oiled it and re-gassed the system. I also had the air con belt changed while they were there.

Im now having an intermittant problem where only sometimes the clutch is engaging and the air con is working. When I turn the air con on sometimes it comes on straight away and other times it takes a long time. I was travelling down the motorway yesterday with the cruise control on and when the clutch engages you can feel the car judder and the revs drop. When the air con is working its great and really cold but it is completely random of when it will turn itself on and off.

Has anyone else had this problem or know what needs replacing? Does the air con clutch have springs like the engine clutch that may be on the way out?

Thanks

[mjt]

I'm not an expert on aircon systems but I think I'm right in saying that there are high- and low-pressure sensors in the circuit and if the pressure goes too high or too low the compressor will be turned off.

The compressor clutch is magnetic. When power is supplied the clutch engages and in the absence of power it is free.

[alz]

Hi, I had a similar thing happen to mine, going on and off, I all so had a re-gas, but in the end it turned out to be the radiator cooling fan, it had packed up..it also cools the air con condener radiator...

[mcdonns]

2004 (05 plate) Ford Focus 1.6 petrol.

I have noticed that when I an slowing to a stop in neutral, the rev counter drops from about 750 to about 400 at which time I can heard a 'click' form the engine compartment which I think is the air conditioning compressor clutch engaging. The rev counter recovers then a few sec's later another click and it drops again. When the car comes to a stop this also stops.

This only happens when I have the heater switch on (all settings do work) even though I don't have the air con switched on on the dash.

I've tried switching everything on whilst stationary without being able to reproduce the problem.

Any advice would be appreciated.

[jeebowhite]

Hi Stephen,

You need to create your request in a new thread as these are separate issues.

[artscot79]

you need the system checked it could be a high or low pressure switch it could be a loose belt since that was replaced it could be an over charged system a good mobile aircon specialist will connect the car up and check all the things above as for the other question the problem is either the idle control valve allowing the idle to drop too lowe or the car needs a pcm update from ford its not the aircon its the idle dropping too low

[mcdonns]

Sorry about that, I've re-posted as a new thread