Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives Forums General Troubleshooting A/C blowing hot air -- help!

My '96 Contour has been a great little car -- operative words here are "has been" -- but now it has over 105,000 miles and is starting to nickel and dime me to death. My A/C was just serviced in June ($175), freon recharged, and it's been working fine. I was having a problem with the battery not holding a charge last weekend -- would jump start it, it would run fine, but then if it sat for more than 3 hours, the battery was dead again. Turned out to be the trunk light was stuck on -- removed the bulb and now the battery holds a charge and the car is starting every time. HOWEVER...I tried to use the A/C on my way home from work tonight, and it's only blowing hot air. Grrrrrrrrrrr...

Could jumpstarting the car repeatedly (about 5 times this weekend) have blown a fuse for the A/C, or worse, fried some circuitry or messed up the computer somehow? If it's a big ticket repair, I just can't see sinking much money into a car with mileage this high. To make matters worse, the driver's window decided to quit going up and down, and I spent $65 for a mechanic to tell me that the motor is shot, the part is about $170 from the dealer, but with labor it would be about $600 to get the stupid window to go up and down again. I couldn't justify spending that much money on the window, so I've just been living with it...but now with the A/C not working, it's a pretty dang uncomfortable commute. Any suggestions, guys?

Hopefully,
Katiecat
'96 Contour GL
I hate electric windows!!!

Probably in need of recharge. Leak causing need for earlier recharge may not have been detected.

First is to test the pressure in the AC system. That's simple enough. What's more likely is there's malfunction that didn't fully close the "vents" so the AC air can blow through the system, *IMHO*. My '96 LX has that problem, but quite minor. When I first start up the car, the vents blow warm air. Though a quick switch to AC for 5 seconds seems to work around that for now.

Before we send Katiecat off to the shop, I would suggest you open up your owners manual and find out what fuses run the A/C clutch. You'll note there are 2 fuse boxes, one above the drivers left foot in the car, and one under the hood adjacent the battery. Off hand I don't know which one (or perhaps both) has the fuse for the A/C clutch.

Try the obvious first & you could end up saving lots of headaches & money. PepBoyz tried to charge my mother-in-law over $400 for an engine cooling fan assembly last month when all she needed was a 20 amp fuse for less than a dollar. Momma-in-law now knows better.

KatieCat, I don't know where you are, but if you live in Palm Beach County, Florida I'd be happy to take a look at that for you, and perhaps get your trunk light switch working again too. Click on my name & send me a PM if you're nearby.

Unfortunately there is no fuse dedicated to a/c clutch. It receives power via circuits fed from fuse 37 (blower motor) which has already been confirmed as being ok since car is "blowing hot air".