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80 series Air con issues

Jason Read

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Apr 1, 2018
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new_zealand
Hello, My 92 80 series air con is giving trouble. Gas is ok but clutch won't engage. Still no go if I short it directly too. Then the in car controller failed too. I can adjust airflow direction but fan wont go and the "auto" and "ac" buttons do nothing. Are these problems linked or just coincidence. Thanks
 
If putting 12 volts straight to the AC clutch even with the engine not running doesn't make it click loudly then you have a problem with the clutch .
I presume you have checked all the associated fuses ? you may have inadvertently blown one when trying to "short" the AC clutch
How do you know the gas is "ok" ?
 
Hi Jason, it's not an electrical issue: you have to carefully clean the condenser assy, cooler ( OEM parts number 88460-60060 or 88460-60160) and the AC will run perfectly.
Look at the attached pic.
 

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Hi Jason,
Without the fan running you will have no AC as the fan not running inhibits the AC by default. As Grimbo says, what makes you say the gas is OK? Have you had it checked with gauges? Although cleaning the evaporator (shown in the photo) is a good idea, if you can get to it without ripping the dash apart, it isn’t going to cause the fan to not come on or in turn stop the AC system pulling the clutch in. Gas can be lost easily through leaking pipes and the 80 does have a couple of areas where pin holes can appear, along the pipe that is bolted to the firewall is one, rear AC if you have it can be another depending on corrosion issues. Low gas isn’t going to prevent your fan working though.
The fan would be the first thing to sort out and as Grimbo has said, first place to look is fuses. I had an instance where my fan stopped working and I bypassed it with a wire from the fusebox and a toggle switch in desperation one winter. After some time I reversed the bypass and it has worked faultlessly since. For the life of me I have no idea why it stopped or what happened to make it go again. Not much help I know but for it to inhibit the AC it must be something feeding the fan and climate control (which I guess is what you have, rectangle with buttons and slider across the bottom) rather than a problem with the fan.
 
Hi, thanks for your help. I reckon I know what caused my issue. It appears clutch was a bit siezed. Probably due to river crossings I've done. But! What I did when I went to short the clutch to test it was poke the wire at the fitting bringing power to the clutch! I had been on nightshift if thats any excuse. Realising my stupid mistake right away but pr3too late. I've shorted or blown something but checked every fuse I can find with no success. I have air direction controls but no a/c. No heat level or fan control at all.
 
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Hi Jason, I had similar problems with my AC in my petrol 1993 80 series and ended up taking it to an auto electrician on the North Shore
( Auckland) and they found pin holes in the pipeline and fixed the fan etc now works like a dream. I could not put a nail in the wall so have to rely on the professional, expensive but they sorted it.
 
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my problem now is that the lighting indicator lights behind the airconditioning and heating area is so weak that in sunlight I cant see weather its on or not, so I suppose I will have to take it to the same auto electrician to see if they can sort that out.
 
Are your headlights on? The climate control lights dim for night time.
 
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