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Well, finally traced the short in my A/C system down to the metal contact that comes off the compressor. There's two of them, one black (ground from the mounting bracket), one green (turns on clutch).
The contact appears loose and (i think) its touching the housing of the compressor... grounding it out.... blowing the fuse.
Could somebody please please please show me a picture of what those two contacts are supposed to look like? Just take your wiring harness off the compressor and take a close snapshot of the two contacts coming out of the compressor (between the fan belt pulley and the compressor housing - on top).
It just doesn't seem right that they made placed that contact so close to the metal housing. It really not moving around THAT much. I tried wrapping a small piece of electrical tape under the contact. That worked while the engine wasn't running, but once I turned it on and the vibrations kicked in, *poof*.
Please help a brother in the New Orleans heat out! :)
Thanks.
Cant take a picture but I can tell you that my 81 is the same way.
It is very close to the compressor housing. But the wires are contained in a plastic connector...
and when it is plugged in, it is very snug....and no metal touching the compressor housing.......
The plastic harness is fine... and the contacts inside of it are fine.
Its those damn metal tabs coming off of the compressor. The tab thats supposed to carry the 12V seems to snugly fit against the compressor housing. Bending it won't help. I was wondering if there was supposed to be some sort of insulation around it that may have rotted off on mine.
Wow... thanks!
Look at both tabs if you could... I'm curious to know if there's any insulation or if they're both touching the housing.
The harness should pull right off and go right back on.
I had this happen on my 7T9.....Insulate the wires from each other....Mine was touching together....crazy GM put a hot wire along side a ground lead with very little insulation between the two.....Good Luck :seeya Cappy
The wires aren't touching each other. Neither are the metal tab contacts.... the tabs are touching the metal compressor housing.
Just need to know how the hot (12V) tab is insulated from the metal housing.
my original plastic connector was toast...and I found a new one ( with DIODE )
in the electrical section at Pep Boys......
I bought mine about a month ago
sorry about that - I remembered the diode things and figured the 78 was the same and had the diode.
I couldnt get out there to look close enough at the tabs...sorry.
I will though - Im not ignoring your original question :D
The compressor I have on there is a new ( non Delco ) unit. ( forgot about that )
My original is on the shelf in my garage at home.
I will check when I get home and put a spot light on the whole thing and
give you a detailed report.
Original Compressor has what looks like a 1 inch wide by 1/4 inch thick
peice of white plastic that the pins are resting on, so that they arent directly on top of the metal housing.....mine was very brittle...I didnt even see it there until I started cleaning the area and the plastic started falling apart.....I bet you are missing this plastic peice and your pins are laying on the housing
new compressor ( Non AC Delco ) has the pins coming straight off the housing and held in place by some white hard putty.