Fox T-Bird/Cougar Forums

My A/C stopped blowing cold air. The compressor is not kicking on like it should. The first thing I noticed was the fan switch was fried (burnt, melted), so I put new individual connectors for better contact. I also replace the fan switch with a better one and it still won't turn on. I was wondering if this part could be the problem, It changes from A/C high to low to vent, ect. but no compressor. Thanks!

My a/c quit hen it ran out of refrigerant. The switch turns it all off when it gets too low. Fixing that this week with a new liquid line.

Humm... I just had the freon put in and checked for leaks about 3 months ago, but that was before I had this new engine put in. That would be ok with me if that is all it is. Thanks!

Check the charge. Vinny is correct if low it wont pull in the clutch!!!

Strange I have never had any problem with it before, but a lot can happen when you are replacing an engine, transmission, ect.. If I need a new compressor, now would be the time for it. Just about every thing else has been replaced. I appreciate the help guys!

I just had my charge checked and I was only a couple of pounds low, so now it's full. They said no sign of leaks and that the compressor is not kicking on because there is no ground to it. So, where is the ground wire located for my compressor so I can connect it to the chassis? Thanks!

If you recently replaced the engine (I think I read that) then I would check you grounding strap to the block. IIRC, there's no dedicated ground to the A/C compressor, there's like 2 wires that plug into it.
I thought about the ground strap cause I remembered a pick-up I had that had the bucking/stumbling on acceleration, but smooth at idle. All it was was the ground strap wasn't put back on. Just a thought.

I'm wondering if there is a connector that goes into the new EEC-1V and it was not hooked up.

I checked for my ground cables and both are grounded. I have one going from the back of the head to the firewall, and another going from the front of the block to the engine mount bolt.

I checked for my ground cables and both are grounded. I have one going from the back of the head to the firewall, and another going from the front of the block to the engine mount bolt.

With the engine running and the A/C on, check the cycling switch for power. It's the one by the firewall on/near the accumulator.  If you don't have power at the Light Green/Purple wire, use a jumper wire to send power down the Pink/Light Blue wire. See if the clutch engages when you do.  This tells us whether the clutch is being commanded at the first point, and it tells us also if the rest of the clutch circuit is viable.

Wow, sorry I didn't see this till just now. I will give it a shot in the morning. Mom's taking me out to dinner for my B/D.

If the engine was not grounded properly it would not crank correctly. The ground for the clutch is one wire on the connector near the compressor. Normally the clutch has 2 wires one is a GROUND!!!

Engine cranks fine, starts right up. Compressor has a connector on top with two wires. Obviously the ground wire is not grounded. The ground wire appears to go into the cluster under the dash. Tomorrow, I start with TFYK's suggestion and see what I will find. Then I will try to trace the ground wire under the dash if need be. All I know is I lost a ground and I need to find it and ground it. Would there be anything wrong with pulling the  ground wire from the compressor out of the harness and grounding it to the firewall or chassis? Thanks!

I guess I missed the whole ground thing. 
Still, the first connector from the clutch is easy to miss in an engine swap.  It's in the area of the yellow circle. Follow the AC sub harness from the compressor, it should go through a pair of 2 wire connectors between the engine by the power steering and the body by the coil.

Anybody know where I can get a schematic on the A/C system? My Haynes manual doesn't have it and I can't ever seem to find jcassity's information. 1986 Cougar w/5.0 engine. Thanks!

This info will help me get you the correct diagram for your ground.
Was this car always a 5.0? If not what was it?
Does it have an electronic instrument cluster?
Does it have ATC (Automatic Temperature Control)?

Yes, always 5.0 but now HO.
Yes, electronic instrument cluster...but not for long.
No, I don't think so.

"Thank You!" for any assistance!

OK here is the DEAL the compressor gets BATTERY from the CCOT SWITCH and ground from the engine. Get out a test light and check it. If the ground is not there cut the wire and put it under a mounting bolt for the compressor DUN FINISHED
Possible causes

1 magnetic pull in coil OPEN

2 NO GROUND. Hard to believe

3 NO BATTERY different trouble completely

What is the problem and did you check it yourself.  I find it fascinating that a ground would be missing. BUT IT HAS TO BE CHECKED

Ground G902 is in the center of the dash.
Ground 902 diagram. All the stuff on this diagram use the same ground. Check and see if the other stuff works.
Connector C305 is a gray one wire connector "near the LH front shock tower". (black wire)

The rest of the picture. To answer your earlier question, yes you can ground the solid black (no yellow stripe) wire at the compressor clutch to see if that cures your problem.
Notice G902 is needed for the blower to run.

Just a point if i may!!!! Did he not post in another area that his clock is working PERFECTLY. You can push me over with a FEATHER!!!!!

Simple test 10 dollar test light and 2 seconds of work from the guy that had a LEMON IROC


 Quote Originally Posted by CoogarXR View Post
All you do is hold down the "time" button, and use the two little buttons above the display for the hours and minutes. Every one I have had, you have to push unusually hard on the buttons to get them to respond.

QUOTE from 86
That worked! I set the date and time. Thanks!

His Clock Works . Any other things we need to know... Same ground so at this point going further is useless untill some trouble shooting is DUN. I personally do not like chasing BALLOONS!!!

POINT BLANK 86 DID YOU CHECK THE BATTERY FEED AND THE GROUND AT THE COMPRESSOR

1 YES
2 NO

Pick one ?????

HINT DOES YOUR WASHER PUMP WORK???

You Know Chuck W made a very valid point with another post. He posted great trouble shooting info for a guy that totally ignored him. He was right in his answer. Thanks Chuck you point was well taken!!

And SOFTTOUCH posted a print for you to follow. Now it is time to do some testing or sweat your butt off this summer.

I'm with Tom, G902 is a major ground, and major grounds don't just go bad.  If there IS a ground problem, it's probably with the wiring in between. Never seen a clutch lose ground, though. If I'd bet a buck, I'd bet twenty that there's a power problem with a connector that got forgotten.

TFYK, I apologize for taking so long to get back with you. I was under my car pulling the rear axle out. I took the car to Firestone the other day  and the guy their said it was not getting a ground. So, I called my buddy Jimmi (being my A/C worked before he switched engines). Jimmi said it has a ground and is getting no power. That's when I asked for a schematic for trouble shooting. Yes Tom, the washer pump works. Remember, I said that I was wondering if it had something to do with the EEC? Well, we have a:
C3W
F3ZF-12A650-FA
EEC-1V
SFI-MA12A

So what Jimmi said he needs to do is see if he left off the one wire and he said something about buying a relay for it. I'm not working the issue because I have already paid him to do it when he put the engine in. I'm just trying to make sure he has the correct schematic. By the way Softtouch, Thank you so much for the schematics. I could not find them anywhere. TFYK, you are correct about the problem being power. Jimmi will probably work the issue on Monday. Tomorrow or Monday I will be sweating my a$$ off putting the 3.45 axle in (lol). Summer is coming! Lemon IROC...I must have hit a nerve.

Well the lemon IROC is not the only nerve HIT. Basically your scatter type trouble shooting technique clearly does not work. I know people need help with issues and i am the first to help along with others on this site from all posters not just me. Wanted to make that clear.  Great info on this site from all the posters. But when a person that is calling himself or a friend a mechanic cant tell the difference between a missing ground or battery connection is why your IROC was a LEMON. I am willing to bet you also hit a nerve with that Chevy dealer with BOGUS ISSUES!!

With that once again

1 Does the compressor connector have a ground on it?
2 Does i have battery when the AC is turned on?

Pick one it is a 50/50 shot not to bad considering you are now pulling the DIFF to most likely solve AN  AC ISSUE. This is the type of trouble shooting i am getting from your posts.

Also did you check the operation of the WOT RELAY. That is another thing you can RIP in to wildly. Did you jump the CCOT?  Or have you ripped that apart lately  . Just a thought!!!

So with that i will HUG MY GTA and tell it it is not a LEMON

Sorry and Thank you!!!

During the MANY major and minor swaps to finish this cat I lost the A/C power. Have determined that it is  the WOT A/C cut relay, either bad or a missed/cut/incorrectly placed wire at the 60 pin.

It's always great to know the problem.

For me, problems with the car really don't bother me....it's the "not knowing" what the problem is that kills me. Glad to hear you're getting it done.

True Vinny but not checking things that posters take their time and effort to help is IGNORED is something i have little patients for. We have a new guy in the shop and a 6.5 GM diesel came in that this guy worked on last week for an oil leak. He told the customer the VC were leaking. With that we fixed it. BUT!!!!! A week later it had the same issue. I gave it back to joe to find out why. He explained it was the oil pan gasket. I asked him to check it out again. With that he ignored me and that pissed me off. So I racked the vehicle and found one of the radiator oil cooling lines had a rub through. THAT PISSED ME OFF. Not because Joe made a mistake but he ignored my orders. STRIKE ONE FOR JOSEPH!!


WAC Pin 54 Check it and go from there. It feeds the WOT relay coil!!!

EEC relay supplies battery to the WOT relay. Ground from pin 54 completed the pull in coil to close the contacts. Jump it out and see if it works .If so leave it that way. But knowing this car the wiring is most likely messed up. Just a GUESS ON MY PART.

In respect for this forum, I have decided to delete this post. My apology to anyone it may have offended.

Will Do 86!!!

Now fix that dam compressor issue.

Problem is diagnosed and Jimmi will fix it soon. No reason to dilute this forum any further. Chuck W. if you will please, delete this complete post from the forum. I'm sure many as well as myself have no use for such demeanor. Thanks!

86cougar,
what irony!  that was your post 666 !

glad its going to get fixed.

Why would you want this post erased. I find this disturbing. You asked for help all of us responded and now you found something and not telling us what you found. Other than JIMMY will fix it. It would be nice to know what you found. Is that asking to much for the effort time and patience from all that tried to help.  Other than me i found it hard to be patient with a simple troubles like this. And not trying to at least do some simple troubling shooting with a test light. Throwing out a trouble asking for prints and not even checking a ground issue as you posted is just beyond my thinking. The posters that tried to answer your issue are not MAGICIANS. We need simple trouble shooting tests to help people that you did not do. I am not bad mouthing you but it seems like all your posts are the same .    But i am happy you and JIMMY have it under control and found whatever you found????

:toilet:

For the sake of this forum....The guy at Firestone said I had no ground and that it was 2 1/2 lbs low of r134A which they said they filled at no charge. I paid the bill and took his word (I have the receipt). Jimmi then checked it and said it had a ground and no power to the compressor. That's when TFYN was kind enough to shoot some pictures and give me some advice as to what to look for. At this time softtouch also was kind enough to send me schematics that I asked for. Jimmi came over yesterday and checked the system and found out that the low pressure switch was not turning on giving the compressor power because there was no R134A in the system. Wednesday, he will bring over his A/C equipment and check for a leak then fill it. So, that's what happened, you guy's can take all that and make your own opinions. Jcassity, Hmm... Like Flip Wilson (younger guys: Who's that?) used to say "The devil made me do it". Probably more truth to that than I care to admit.

Once again i find this hard to believe as the system barely takes 2.5 Lbs as it is so the system was basically empty. And without the compressor running and manifold readings no one would or could know how low the system was and could not charge it without the system compressor working. Another wild story i guess. just me but something is not right here. WHEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Vinny and myself said this in the beginning.

POST #2 and 3

The first thing you do when trouble shooting an AC system for a clutch issue is check the CHARGE!!!!!

Now you have another issue A LEAK . GOOD LUCK!!!

That was my sole purpose of taking the car to Firestone. I wanted to check the freon and see if it had leaked out. They said it was full and that I had no ground. I paid good money to be told that. In reality, it had ground and no power because it had no freon. The end!

Ok the END i will buy that. WOW !!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Also, technically, this thread is "trolling" by another definition. Trolling is also a form of fishing (in the literal sense) by slowly dragging lines behind a boat, in hopes to lure fish. (But I'm sure you know that)

This thread was dropped here "fishing" for support. You tossed it off the back of your boat and idled along hoping people would "bite" and tell you that you're "OK".

I almost deleted it as soon as it was posted, simply because I'm tired of all the BS from all sides. I hate these fishing type of threads.

Yes, you have knowledge and experience that folks will find useful. HOWEVER, not everyone is going to agree with what you say and how you do things. Even less people are going to agree with your delivery, especially when you flat out tell them that their ideas are STUPID or DUMB, mainly because you don't agree with them. Backing that up with the passive-aggressive "What do I know, anyway?" jabs is just added flavor for annoyance.

Stop riding threads to the ground just because you MUST prove to all involved that your way is the best and only way, and everyone else knows nothing compared to you.

Maybe you don't see that you're doing it, but I imagine you're not that oblivious to it. Perhaps you're not "trolling" in the urban dictionary definition of looking for a fight or just being as ass because you can, but you certainly try hard to make sure everyone knows you're right...

Just calling it how I see it.
Anonymous

I think must of us have read this just recently and I must say, It was well put.

So the Cliff notes version is:

Firestone sucks
Jimmy doesn't

Again, well put.

nice one jeremy~!
now get busy making that car green!