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A/C Relay Location?

S

Scareydad

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June 24, 2010
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City, State
Pearl, MS
Year, Model & Trim Level
1996 XLT 5.0
I own a 96 XLT 5.0. Does anyone know the location of the Compressor relay for the A/C? I had taken the vehicle to my brother's shop to fix the blend door last Saturday and after fixing that, we ran into the problem of the compressor not receiving any juice though being fully charged. After checking all of the fuses related to the A/C system, he and a coworker diagnosed it as a bad relay. At the moment I have a hot wire run to the compressor from the battery and a toggle switch in-line installed in the dash. It is a temporary solution, I know, but I live in MS and the past week's temps have been high 90s with heat indexes close to 110.

The reason I resorted to this is that they (the mechanics) couldn't track down the location of the relay box that held the relay for the compressor. After reading a bit in the forums, I noticed that relay boxes #1 & #2 are displayed but I don't seem to see the Compressor relay in either.
 



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I find it very odd that a mechanic can diagnoss a problem without ever finding the said part that has been diagnosed as being bad.

Just my .02
 






Post up (or PM me) an e-mail address and I will send you the wiring diagram for the 96 model year. The very first page shows the AC system.



By the way, it looks like there are 2 relays, and it also runs off your PCM.
1 relay in the drivers side PDB
and 1 in the passenger side PDB
 






my98nnj said:
I find it very odd that a mechanic can diagnoss a problem without ever finding the said part that has been diagnosed as being bad.
Click to expand...

The coworker is the shop owner's son. He was there basically to let us in to a bay to see if we could fix it. The way that the aforementioned shop operates is that one of the 2 ASE certified mechanics in the shop (the owner and another mech) diagnoses and has a worker (like my brother and his coworker) do the wrench turning. Works out pretty well with reliable help. Them helping me was just a favor and us trying to figure it out. My brother is a decent shadetree mechanic but I can't vouch for the other guy.
 






Relays are in the power distribution box under the hood, but I don't think there is an actual A/C relay in there aside from an A/C WOT relay which I'm not sure if it kills the A/C at wide open throttle, or if it makes it run unless it's at WOT...

There is a fuse on the side of the dash though, and a pressure switch attached to the top of the evaporator, and if that switch is bad it will not let the A/C system start even if there is pressure.

Fuses and relays start on page 383 in your owners manual, or Dead Link Removed is you don't have one...
 






Got a bad link there, Joe Dirt.... (tells me to log in again...)

What you described is pretty accurate to the drawings I sent to the OP.
Theres an AC clutch cycling switch (oops not a relay) on the right side of the engine compartment
A VAC switch (again, not a relay) on the Left side of the engine compartment
And a WOT AC relay in the power distribution box
 






There ya go, I had linked to the actual 1996 .pdf, I don't think Ford liked that.

Sorry Ford! :)
 






Help please I'm stuck

Good morning all. 1995 Ford Explorer 2wd 4.0l OHV engine,
Can anyone please direct me to or provide a link to a circuit and electrical Diagram that shows component location and Wiring-Diagram. My front blower will not work for a/c or heating. The rear blower works fine. I have 13.97vdc at the moles plug for the blower motor assembly under the hood. I've also got 13.97vdc at the Relay terminal #80 . I ohm out the blower motor and i read continuity across the motor windings, I need the specs on the motor so I know what the ohm reading should be. So I've got power where it should be and a motor with good windings. Does anyone know why this motor will not fire off. And is there a link for Specs for blower motor as a reference for resistance reading across windings. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
 






Great source for wiring diagrams; not as good for component location:
Auto - Online Repair Info
http://search.ebscohost.com/
Login ID: rrcc
Login PW: rebsco
Select: Auto Repair Reference Center
Fill in: Find Your Vehicle
Follow prompts down to Wiring Diagrams.
Good luck.
 






Scareydad said:
I own a 96 XLT 5.0. Does anyone know the location of the Compressor relay for the A/C? I had taken the vehicle to my brother's shop to fix the blend door last Saturday and after fixing that, we ran into the problem of the compressor not receiving any juice though being fully charged. After checking all of the fuses related to the A/C system, he and a coworker diagnosed it as a bad relay. At the moment I have a hot wire run to the compressor from the battery and a toggle switch in-line installed in the dash. It is a temporary solution, I know, but I live in MS and the past week's temps have been high 90s with heat indexes close to 110.

The reason I resorted to this is that they (the mechanics) couldn't track down the location of the relay box that held the relay for the compressor. After reading a bit in the forums, I noticed that relay boxes #1 & #2 are displayed but I don't seem to see the Compressor relay in either.
Click to expand...
I just happened across your post. I'm hoping it was resolved by now.
The relay in question is on the PC board of the EATC control in the car. There is a small relay on the board and one of the six pins has a cold solder joint. I had the same problem with my 1996 Limited V8. You'll find maybe .5 or .6 volts at the compressor and the fuse. Once you clean and resolder the relay contact, you'll be back in business.
 






^ 11 year old topic, he's probably either fixed it or moved on by now. :)

Also no mention of whether the vehicle has EATC versus manual climate controls. Either way there's usually an A/C relay in the under hood, power distribution box. There's probably a diagram of that box in the owner's manual.
 






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