So I used the A/C for the first real time today. It worked, but wasn't very cold... Anyways, halfway home, at
a stoplight, it just cut out. Dead - nothing. No compressor, no nuthin.
I get home, and put a can of refrigerant in it. Take it for a drive, and the A/C is ice cold! Then I get to another stoplight, and - bam. Compressor's dead again, AC doesn't work.
As a side note, it did this last year, once in a while, usually only in hot weather during stop and go traffic, and the A/C would work again once I got up to speed for a while.
So, here's an observation I had in the driveway - anytime I apply throttle at idle, even just a tiny bit, the compressor cuts out. Does anyone know if it's
supposed to do that? The GM systems I've worked on definitely DON'T do that, and I'm not sure if Fords are supposed to or not. Then I'm thinking - maybe it's a bad throttle position sensor? I disconnected it, and the compressor doesn't instantly cut out when I give it
throttle. I know on some GM systems, there's a WOT (wide open throttle) cutout, so I figure that maybe the TPS is intermittently sending a WOT signal just off idle, or at idle (when the compressor refuses to run at all).
I checked the TPS with an ohm-meter, and it seems like it's ok, though. But it sounds like a good theory. Any other ideas out there? The Haynes repair manual I have doesn't offer any advice for A/C systems.
Thanks!
-- Scott
