1995 Mercury Sable AC troubleshooting help

[Rich Stern]

My brother-in-law has a 1995 Sable Wagon. It's cosmetically excellent (he's a wax maniac), but slowly and surely, the car is showing it's mechanical age.



The latest is the AC. Doesn't blow cold. I'm suspecting it's a freon deficiency. Can anybody point me in the direction of how to troubleshoot, or a resource for troubleshooting, and whether or not those recharge kits sold in auto stores work with cars from the mid-1990s.

 

[Todd Z]

Being a 95 I believe it has the 134A, Need to check the sticker under the hood to verify...



Does the compressor cycle on and off??? IF yes, then you might just be low... You can get the kit from a store and fill it with one small can. That should do the trick..



IF the compressor is not cycling then you have to jump the LOW switch to verify all the electrical components are working, Then you can try and fill...



The o rings do slowly leak over time, IF it is still working, get a can of the 134A with leak stop, They work good...



IF the system is R-12 you can not buy that over the counter, you need a license, BUT you can easily convert the system with a kit your self...

Hope this helps..

Todd Z

 

[Dre L]

WHY DON'T YOU GO TO A SABLE FORUM?



Yeah I know, it's getting old.



I had a 1994 chevy which used R134, I'm sure his 95 is also.



sportsmans guide has 3 big cans of arctic freeze for about $20.



Edit: okay, so it wasn't 3 cans, or $20, but he has a 2fer kit or a retrofit kit for $30

 

[Rich Stern]

WHY DON'T YOU GO TO A SABLE FORUM?

Just a few quick keystrokes and this will be a Sable forum.



Fellas, thanks. I'll check the compressor and then go from there.

 

[Todd Z]

Just a few quick keystrokes and this will be a Sable forum.

www.mysable.com ???? :lol::lol::lol:

Todd Z

 

[Kevin Palmer]

Rich, if the compressor does not come on, then run a hot (12 volt wire) to it and see if it gets cold in the car. If so, there is a module block that has built in relays for that model car on the radiator shroud. The module does several things, the A/C is one of like 12 things for example. New, the module is a bit pricey. What I have done for my customers is, run a wire from the OEM switch to a relay then to the compressor. This bypasses the relay inside the module which fails often and takes the load off of the OEM switch.



Now, if you wire it direct and get not cold air, then we need to get a gauge set to see where the pressures are.

 

[Richard L]

Rich,

You can pick up a simple guage to check the AC pressures at the autopart stores. It looks like a stick style tire pressure gauge. That wil confirm if you have any 134A pressure.



Most likely it is a leak and recharging may not be effective if the leak is not found and fixed. Also, when an AC leaks refrigerant it also leaks compressor oil. If the system is recharged without replacing the lost oil you will burn out the compressor fairly quickly. In addition to that, it the refrigerant leaked out, air got in, and that contains contaminates that will ruin the desicant in the accumulator and the orface tube/expansion valve (so vehicles use an H-Valve).



If he only wants to get some cold air to sell the car, then he can just recharge it, otherwise he's wasting his money.



...Rich

 

[Tom Schindler]

Rich,



An easy way to get the clutch to run is to use a paper clip to jump the pressure switch on the dryer. Just unplug the switch, stick in the paper clip. if it runs, then you know your clutch is good. If not, then the clutch/compressor needs replaced.



I am willing to bet the system needs recharged. I have a Robinair vacuum pump. Just hook it up and vacuum it down to boil off any moisture. Then charge the system with oil and freon.



Too bad you live so far away from me. I would come over to do it for you since I have all the tools needed to do so.





Tom

 

[Phill R]

I had a '99 Sable. Shortly after I got it, I noticed the AC didn't blow cold. Since I had the extended warranty, I had the dealer check it. It turned out that it needed all the O-rings changed.

Previously, I had a '94 Taurus that also lost charge. After having it charged twice, I figured that the O-rings on that were bad as well.

 

[Kevin Palmer]

Tom, Rich,

If this car does have the module on the radiator shroud that I mentioned above, then the paper clip will not work.



Why? Because the paper clip completes the circuit up to the internal relay of the module. If that module is defective as many of them were, then the circuit will still be open to the compressor.



One of Fords better ideas....