A/C Shuts down intermittently
Thread Starter
Intermediate
Joined: Dec 2004
Posts: 48
Likes: 0
A/C Shuts down intermittently
97 Coupe
Sometimes I start the car and there is no life shown in my a/c/fan unit. Drive for a bit, everything comes on and works ok.
Other times, everything (i.e. a/c/fan) works after ignition, then it shuts down several miles down the road.
The only code that I retrieved after clearing everything was C1264.
No recent mods/repairs to the car.
Anyone have an idea of what I should look at?
Your help is greatly appreciated.
Boyd
Sometimes I start the car and there is no life shown in my a/c/fan unit. Drive for a bit, everything comes on and works ok.
Other times, everything (i.e. a/c/fan) works after ignition, then it shuts down several miles down the road.
The only code that I retrieved after clearing everything was C1264.
No recent mods/repairs to the car.
Anyone have an idea of what I should look at?
Your help is greatly appreciated.
Boyd
Race Director
Joined: Mar 2001
Posts: 11,405
Likes: 26
From: Whippany NJ
CI 6-7-8-9 Veteran
St. Jude Donor '08-'09
NCM Sinkhole Donor
97 Coupe
Sometimes I start the car and there is no life shown in my a/c/fan unit. Drive for a bit, everything comes on and works ok.
Other times, everything (i.e. a/c/fan) works after ignition, then it shuts down several miles down the road.
The only code that I retrieved after clearing everything was C1264.
No recent mods/repairs to the car.
Anyone have an idea of what I should look at?
Your help is greatly appreciated.
Boyd
Sometimes I start the car and there is no life shown in my a/c/fan unit. Drive for a bit, everything comes on and works ok.
Other times, everything (i.e. a/c/fan) works after ignition, then it shuts down several miles down the road.
The only code that I retrieved after clearing everything was C1264.
No recent mods/repairs to the car.
Anyone have an idea of what I should look at?
Your help is greatly appreciated.
Boyd
Tech Contributor
Joined: Oct 1999
Posts: 41,058
Likes: 9,821
From: Charlotte, NC (formerly Endicott, NY)
The C1264 code indicates you have a failure in the Brake Pressure Modulator Valve in the ABS system. Is there a ABS or TC light turned on on the instrument panel?
As mentioned above check the outside ambient temp sensor but check the inside sensor as well as the sun load sensor. Make sure the contacts are clean with no visible corrosion. If their resistance values were out of range (open/short) you would be getting some AC codes so they may could have a high resistance but not enough to trip the open circuit code.
Bill
As mentioned above check the outside ambient temp sensor but check the inside sensor as well as the sun load sensor. Make sure the contacts are clean with no visible corrosion. If their resistance values were out of range (open/short) you would be getting some AC codes so they may could have a high resistance but not enough to trip the open circuit code.
Bill
Instructor
Joined: May 2002
Posts: 149
Likes: 0
From: Land O Lakes FL
This might sound like it is coming from left field, but...
I had a similar problem with my A/C, sometimes it would work fine, other times it would turn off or the A/C light would blink, no codes though. This happened for about 2 or 3 weeks and during that time I checked my pressure and few other things, but nothing seemed to indicate why the problem was occurring. At the end of those 2 or 3 weeks, suddenly my charging system started acting up. Thinking it was the alternator going bad, I took the car into the dealership (not something I was happy to do by any stretch, but I was short on time) to get both looked at.
Turns out that my starter had a short and that was causing the alternator and the A/C system to "shutdown" to protect themselves. Replaced the starter and everything went back to normal.
Not saying that the problem I had and yours are the same, just that you might want to look beyond the A/C system if the normal checks don't show any reason for the malfunction.
I had a similar problem with my A/C, sometimes it would work fine, other times it would turn off or the A/C light would blink, no codes though. This happened for about 2 or 3 weeks and during that time I checked my pressure and few other things, but nothing seemed to indicate why the problem was occurring. At the end of those 2 or 3 weeks, suddenly my charging system started acting up. Thinking it was the alternator going bad, I took the car into the dealership (not something I was happy to do by any stretch, but I was short on time) to get both looked at.
Turns out that my starter had a short and that was causing the alternator and the A/C system to "shutdown" to protect themselves. Replaced the starter and everything went back to normal.
Not saying that the problem I had and yours are the same, just that you might want to look beyond the A/C system if the normal checks don't show any reason for the malfunction.
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Verdad Gallardo
Tech Contributor
Joined: Dec 2006
Posts: 10,962
Likes: 29
From: Van Buren Arkansas
Wounded Warrior Escort '11
The grounds for the fans go through the ground pack on the right forward frame rail adjacent to the hood riser. On my '99, one day without warning, I saw the coolant temp rising way too fast but lowered while moving through the air. Got home and saw that the fans weren't running. I started touching things here and there and had banged on the fan shroud area...the fans started up. It was this same ground pack when I saw and heard a small spark from it. When I went to tighten it, the screw that's welded to the frame, fell off!
