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A/C Delay - Help?

Burrosito on Fri March 04, 2011 7:52 PM User is offline

Year: 2002
Make: Ford
Model: Ranger Edge
Engine Size: 3.0L V6
Country of Origin: United States

Hey guys...was hoping someone can help me out before I go spending money at a repair shop.

The truck is 2002, and has 120,xxx miles on it. No problems except for the A/C.

Basically, when you turn on the truck, put it on Max A/C, and blast it (actually, any speed setting) it just blows warm to hot outside air. After maybe 10 to 15 min, it all at once starts blowing ice cold air. (I think I also hear the clutch engage, dropping the RPMs a bit like it should). Sometimes it takes so long to start blowing cold air I can get from my start location to my end location without it ever turning on. We bought the car used at about 110,xxx miles and the A/C was flawless. Now, it's doing this delay deal.

So I was wondering if it's just perhaps low and needs a charge (or a leak), needs a new compressor...or the clutch needs to be shimmed, or is it something simple like a relay or fuse?

I did the only thing I could do at my disposal and checked the fuses. As far as the main A/C relay, I simply tried switching it out with the starter relay next to it and it still does the same thing.

Any help would be appreciated guys. If you need more info, just let me know.

GM Tech on Fri March 04, 2011 9:13 PM User is offline

Next time it is "off" when it should be "on", open hood and tap clutch hub with a hammer handle- see if clutch engages....If so you need to "unshim" your clutch so that the air gap is less.

Measure your air gap (distance between pulley and clutch driver armature plate) use a set of shims, it should be .040" or less- if above .050" then that is most likely your issue-- the coil's magnetic field is not enough to overcome the massive distance rewuired to pull in the armature plate. And sometimes when you hit a bump, it jarrs the armature enough to pull in...

If so, then remove clutch and remove a shim.......good luck

-------------------------
The number one A/C diagnostic tool there is- is to know how much refrigerant is in the system- this can only be done by recovering and weighing the refrigerant!!
Just a thought.... 65% of A/C failures in my 3200 car diagnostic database (GM vehicles) are due to loss of refrigerant due to a leak......

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