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A/C Compressor

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Old Aug 19, 2007 | 11:42 PM
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Default A/C Compressor

While adding freon to my 90 Vette a bunch of wires in the vicinity of the blower motor started smoking. We halted the procedure and and took care of the faulty wiring by wraping them with electrical tape to prevent them from shorting out again. After doing this we proceded to finish adding freon to the system but could not get the compressor to kick in. We checked all the fuses on the left side of dash and all were OK. Is there an inline fuse for the compressor somewhere else? All input will be appreciated. Don

Put Vette in shop and the found a bad relay behind dash by your left knee. There are other relays there also but I forgot what they were. Hope this helps someone else.

Last edited by dhall; Sep 8, 2007 at 02:10 PM. Reason: New Information
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Old Aug 20, 2007 | 04:48 PM
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Originally Posted by dhall
While adding freon to my 90 Vette a bunch of wires in the vicinity of the blower motor started smoking. We halted the procedure and and took care of the faulty wiring by wraping them with electrical tape to prevent them from shorting out again. After doing this we proceded to finish adding freon to the system but could not get the compressor to kick in. We checked all the fuses on the left side of dash and all were OK. Is there an inline fuse for the compressor somewhere else? All input will be appreciated. Don
.....do you have a helms field service manual?

Last edited by Da Mail Man; Aug 20, 2007 at 07:30 PM. Reason: spelling
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Old Aug 20, 2007 | 05:13 PM
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Try jumping out the low pressure switch. How do you know it's fully charged? What type of freeon? What are the pressure readings?
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Old Aug 20, 2007 | 06:17 PM
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try pulling the fuse to at the accessory fuse and that may reset your compressor
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Old Aug 20, 2007 | 06:20 PM
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[QUOTE=rddaves54;1561581096]try pulling the fuse to at the accessory fuse and that may reset your compressor[/QUOTE

.....HOW do you "reset" a compressor since it has no memory to retain or reset?.....(you cannot)...

Last edited by Da Mail Man; Aug 20, 2007 at 07:31 PM. Reason: additional info
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Old Aug 20, 2007 | 07:30 PM
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[QUOTE=InHot;1561582024]
Originally Posted by Da Mail Man

You can't.

.....didn't i just tell him that?
edit; that was what i was implying in my original response as i am well aware that you CANNOT..

Last edited by Da Mail Man; Aug 20, 2007 at 07:32 PM. Reason: amended
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Old Aug 20, 2007 | 07:35 PM
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'90 is driven by the ECM - ie, with an a/c request signal, the ECM grounds the compressor relay. ECM also monitors the low pressure switch which opens when the pressure is low enough to cause icing OR when the charge is too low which causes rapid cycling of the compressor clutch. If the latter condition occurs, the ECM senses a low charge condition, a trouble code is set, and it won't drive the Compressor Relay until the code is cleared. Do that by disconnecting and reconnecting the battery.

Can you be more specific about the wiring that shorted? If it's the Blower Harness, that often happens if the Motor has a dead short or due to age, it's draw exceeds the ampacity of the wiring. In addition, the harness terminals are crimped and they can loosen with age causing a voltage drop. That causes the wires to heat up and when they get hot enough, they simply melt and open the circuit. Repair by opening up the WeatherPak (it probably needs to be replaced) and soldering the terminals to the wires. Replacing the blower motor might not be a bad idea either, assuming this is the harness with the problem.
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Old Aug 23, 2007 | 02:04 AM
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The wires shorted out and and the compressor shut down and I am assuming that the system is not fully charged because it did not take a full can of freon.
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Old Aug 23, 2007 | 08:02 PM
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Need a picture or better description to know what shorted.
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