A/C stopping (intermittent)

[Benzadmiral]

Hotter than Heck's hinge panels down here now, and my '03 Buick's A/C has refused about 3 times in the last month to come on. Details: I start the car, roll down the windows, press the Auto button and the Recirc button. Normally I see the A/C temp setting, the fan speed, and other readouts on the little screen of the A/C controller, and the fan comes on, blowing cold air first from the floor vents and then from the dash vents.

When this intermittent issue occurs, as it did yesterday, the readouts are all correct, but no air blows from the vents. No strange noises from the compressor, but then I couldn't tell if it kicked in. I tried three times yesterday morning on the way home from a drive, and nothing. This morning, twice, it worked perfectly, blew cold, everything.

The controller unit was rebuilt to replace the little lights in it about 6-8 weeks ago, and as far as I can recall, this issue cropped up only since then. However, the unit seems to perform as it should even when no air blows.

Ideas? Fuse, relay? Low freon?

 

[Chris142]

no air from the vents means that the blower is not blowing. try tapping on it with a hammer

 

[Benzadmiral]

That's what my regular mechanic says -- if the air doesn't blow, try a slap with the flat of my hand on the panel beneath the glove box, and see if the air comes on. He says they stick from time to time (I suppose as they get old. The car is almost 10 and has 96K on it).

If I need to have it replaced, any idea of the part cost?

 

[javacontour]

Try on manual, perhaps automatic waits to kick the fan up.

 

[Rand]

I had a mid 90's cadillac that would do that it was the blower motor, but I'm suspicious that you just had the "system" worked on and now it does it.

 

[brentalan]

It really depends what's wrong. My Lincoln had a problem like that and all it was is the wiring. A $10 harness fixed me right up. The biggest cost would be the labor, and if they have to pull the dash it can be pricey. In my case, I was able to reach it through the glove box without needing to take it to the shop.



Originally Posted By: Benzadmiral
That's what my regular mechanic says -- if the air doesn't blow, try a slap with the flat of my hand on the panel beneath the glove box, and see if the air comes on. He says they stick from time to time (I suppose as they get old. The car is almost 10 and has 96K on it).

If I need to have it replaced, any idea of the part cost?

 

[mechtech2]

Resistor packs are the #1 fan motor problem [or their connectors]. Usually easy to get to on the fan housing/shroud.
I'd check this first.

 

[Benzadmiral]

Update, all,

The issue recurred again twice on Sunday. A quick slap to the blower housing under the glove box started the fan right up. I'll have my regular guy check it out this week.