Compressor will not turn on. 2002 w/4.6L

[KC10Chief]

I have a 2002 Eddie Bauer Explorer with the 4.6L V8 engine. The truck has 65,000 miles on it. It has the electronic climate control in it. Recently, the A/C stopped working. I live in Alaska, so it's not too big of a deal, but sometimes, it's nice to have it. I noticed that the compressor clutch isn't engaging at all. I checked the pressure on the low side, and it's sitting at 100 psi. I don't have a gauge for the high side. Just one of those Wal-Mart style low pressure side gauges. I also jumped the low pressure switch and the high pressure switch. Nothing. I checked all of the fuses and checked the relay and swapped it with one that I know is working. Still doesn't work. Any ideas?

 

[KC10Chief]

Anybody?

 

[mrboyle]

Have you checked for power at the A/C clutch? With and w/o the low pressure switch jumped?

 

[Myroon]

Same thing happening with mine

Hi, Matt. I have the same thing happening with an '03 Explorer EB 4.6 V8. I have done what you've done. However, I have also put power to compressor with an extra battery, which made it click. I took it a step further and ran the engine and put power directly to the compressor terminal and the clutch spins, which produced cold air at the dash. I believe my problem is there is no power coming from the wires to the compressor. Being that I've done the jumper thing and swapped relays and checked fuses, I'm not sure where to look next. I've tried to trace the wiring back from the compressor, but it goes into the thick mass of wires and I'm not sure where it comes out. So, I am very interested in the outcome of your situation.

Later that day...

I read another site with the same type of thing and it directed the user to an area in the wiring harness which runs from the compressor and then goes under the oil pan, through a bracket. Well, I checked this area and found that the harness runs over the top lip of the oil catcher/shield, under the filter. Guess what? It rubs right at that point and I can see exposed wire. The oil catcher/shield is cutting into the wire harness. The other guy ended up splicing and everything worked. I'm hoping for the same. This looks like one of those perfect situations for a recall, or at least extended warranty. Check yours out and see if you have the same thing happening.

 

[Myroon]

An update of my findings

Mine's fixed! There was no way I was going to be able to work with the wires at the location of damage, so I disconnected the harness from the starter, compressor, oil pressure sender. I then snaked it out to the left wheel well. At that point I could open up the bundle and see what I had. the compressor's black wire was torn through, and was only held together by the wire coating. The starter's yellow wire was torn half way through, so it was next in line to not work. I used butt wire connectors and wrapped the wire bundle in three layers of electrical tape. Then I crossed my fingers because I wasn't testing the connections just yet. I snaked everything back in place, first hooking up the oil pressure sender (because it was where my hand was stuck), then the starter and making sure the truck started, then I made the compressor connection. I verified everything was working before tucking into the brackets, and making sure not to run the wire anywhere near the oil drip catcher/shield.

I was wondering if anyone might have the contents of TSB #19091 -- LOW OIL PRESSURE INDICATION/WARNING, A/C COMPRESSOR INOPERATIVE AND/OR NO CRANK CONDITION ON 4.6L EQUIPPED VEHICLES. *TT.

I suspect it says something about replace customer's wire harness and take lots of their money.

 

[KC10Chief]

Thanks for the reply! It's very odd that you mentioned that wire. This problem started right after I changed my oil. I changed the oil filter too. I was wondering if by changing my oil, I somehow pulled on a wire or oil got into a wire that was chaffing. I can't check it right now, but I plan on looking at it later. I'll let you know what I find. Thanks!

 

[KC10Chief]

Well, I'll be. I crawled under there tonight to check it out. Those wires are looking pretty rough and I can see that they have been rubbing. Like you, I can't work on it right there. I'll get to it when I can, and snake it out through the wheel well and fix it. Hopefully, this is my problem. I'm getting ready to leave town in a couple of days. I won't have time to get to it until I get back in a couple of weeks.

 

[Myroon]

Important step left out

Obvious, or not. I forgot to mention that I disconnected the battery while manipulating the wire harness. I think that might be considered one of the more important steps. Oh, and pay close attention to how the compressor wire runs through and around things. I ended up taking out the air cleaner box to access it. I had also accessed it through the wheel well. Not a lot of room it that area.

This is a design flaw, in my humble opinion. As though it was made to break. It's like one of those types of things for which class action lawsuits are born. The bean counters at work, again. I was so close, minutes away, to making an appointment with a local repair shop to hand over a bunch of my money. Okay, okay, enough of that.

Good luck with your repair!

 

[KC10Chief]

Obvious, or not. I forgot to mention that I disconnected the battery while manipulating the wire harness. I think that might be considered one of the more important steps. Oh, and pay close attention to how the compressor wire runs through and around things. I ended up taking out the air cleaner box to access it. I had also accessed it through the wheel well. Not a lot of room it that area.

This is a design flaw, in my humble opinion. As though it was made to break. It's like one of those types of things for which class action lawsuits are born. The bean counters at work, again. I was so close, minutes away, to making an appointment with a local repair shop to hand over a bunch of my money. Okay, okay, enough of that.

Good luck with your repair!

I got under there again last night to have a better look. This is most definitely my problem. I can't believe how stupid this is. They obviously weren't thinking when running the wire harness over that bracket like that. It just cuts right into it. I can see the metal in two of the wires. One is cut through. I'm sure it's the one for the compressor clutch. I can see the starter wires in there. I'm sure it would only be a matter of time before I was left stranded somewhere. My Explorer only has 65,000 miles on it. I'm leaving town today. Won't be back until the 18th or so. I'll have to disconnect that wire harness, pull it out of the wheel well, and splice those wires back together and find some way to prevent it from happening again. I think I'm just going to sell this thing.

 

[helphos]

Dead AC CLutch

Sounds like you may have solved MY problem. I'll definitely take a look at the wiring this weekend. Temps are in the 90's here in MD, and naturally that's when the AC goes on the fritz.
Symptom- AC Clutch does not engage, but jumping the low pressure sensor has no effect. Refrigerant seems to be full, but no action when AC is turned on.

I'm crossing my fingers that $5 worth of wire, tape and shrink wrap, and an hour under the car will solve my problem.

Stay tuned.

 

[KC10Chief]

Problem solved! I took the harness out tonight. Well, I disconnected enough of it to pull it out of the left front wheel well. It's not the easiest of jobs. Took me a couple of hours. You will have to disconnect the harness from the AC compressor, starter, and what I guess is a coolant temperature probe. There are also a couple of brackets holding the wire harness down. I found it easier to just bend them to let the wire harness loose, than it was to actually try and take them out. Then, you can pull it out through the left wheel well. I spliced the wire back together, wrapped it up really good with electrical tape, and then taped on a thick piece of plastic to keep it from chaffing through again. Fired her up and the A/C kicked right on! WOO HOO! The temperatures have been in the 50's here though. Still, if it ever does warm up, it will be working again!

 

[helphos]

Explorer AC fix

Gentlemen- Thank You.
My daughter's car is now cool as a cucumber after paying a friend $75 to check out the wiring harness. He rewired the harness and wrapped some plastic protective wrap (coiled stuff) around it, and now everybody's happy.

It's a shame that ford didn't catch this problem before the first 2002 explorer left the factory, but, Oh Well.

Thanks again!
Paul

 

[Myroon]

Good to hear of your win!

Congratulations! Yep, that's the spot. I was able to run the wire harness under the shield afterward. I bent the bracket (located just to the right) down a bit. I'll recheck my wire harness to make sure it hasn't worked its way back up to where it's in danger. I took a photo, a little out of focus, but the frame 12" inches behind it was spectacular. Again, my black wire was totally shredded (compressor), and the yellow (starter) was half the way chewed through.

 

[redneckbronco]

I know this post is a cpl days old but its been in the 90s and humid and the wifes van is down and weve been using the X more, but the AC is a no go, im pretty sure the wires are worn through like you guys have described, the compressor wont turn on and the little lite by the ac switch wont come on. But also my compressor wont come on, its not froze as i can spin it by hand and ive tried jumping it but with no success. Im not familiar with AC systems and need to know if there is anything else i should check? I dont know if it has a charge or not or anything else about it as i was told it worked when i bought it but as usuall it didnt. Any help is greatly appreciated.

 

[Myroon]

Don't know what else to add

I don't know what else I could add to what to check. I've got an '03 V8, and I think the '02 is the same. You've got the same type Explorer, swapped relays, checked the fuses, jumped the pressure sensor switches(low and high)? The A/C light not coming on is different than what I had. Are you sure you had good contact to the two terminals on the compressor when you tried to 'jump' it? Like I wrote earlier, I used a spare battery to get power to it. This made it very simple so I didn't have to chance of crossing something up on the electrical system, and also not have to drape wires across the engine. You should at least hear a click when you make the connection, and this is without the engine running. If you hear a click, then maybe try running the engine to see if you get cold air while the compressor's clutch is engaged.

Maybe the very next thing you do is get a visual on the wire harness where it might be rubbing the drip shield, assuming you have the V8. If you can verify the rubbing/tearing of wires, then give your local dealership a call, tell them your situation, and see if they'll tell you the verbiage of:
TSB #19091 -- LOW OIL PRESSURE INDICATION/WARNING, A/C COMPRESSOR INOPERATIVE AND/OR NO CRANK CONDITION ON 4.6L EQUIPPED VEHICLES. *TT.

It might turn out to be one of those 'good will' type of things. You know, where they say something like, "Shucks, by golly, we're so sorry for the inconvenience. No charge to you. We only had to replace a wire harness."

That's when you wake up and realize the conversation was just a dream.

 

[Bignunz1031]

95 Ford Explorer XLT

Hi Everybody My compressor just recently seized so I replaced it also replaced the dryer. The clutch will not engage. Just now I changed the relay and the fuse is good. does anybody have any ideas on what else I could check? Thank You in advance. Not sure if my truck s set up the same for the wire. :exp:

 

[KC10Chief]

If you have a 2002 to 2005 Explorer with the V8 engine, then you have this problem. Crawl under there and check it out.

 

[tclark228]

2005 V6 with similar issue

If you have a 2002 to 2005 Explorer with the V8 engine, then you have this problem. Crawl under there and check it out.

Could this be a problem with the V6 EB 2005 model as well??? Where is that wiring located?

Thanks

 

[Rakun12]

Thanks to my wife reading this post I discovered this same issue. I spliced in some patches and soldered them, used liquid electrical tape and regular electrical tape on top of that to seal it all back up. Then a new piece of wire harness casing over the whole section. An alternative to the above mentioned methods is to remove the oil fill catch tray. This gives you a small area to work in that is just enough to get at the wires. This way you don't have to disconnect anything. It's tight though, so this is just an option. I'm not saying it's better than feeding the harness through the wheel well.

 

[thedrewski2016]

After tons of investigating.....pressure, switches after fuses & relays....I found this thread. I know it's been dead for years but I'd love to thank the OP & all who helped. I got up under there & found the same. Gave it a jiggle while the AC was blasting (hot lol) on 60°....my clutch kicked in & I yelled Hot D@mn! I did the same as Rakun12 with the drip tray, got her patched up & now it's Arctic blast like it was 3 weeks ago. Thanks again everyone!!! I love ExplorerForums!!

Edit....blowing hot again today....power still to the compressor (because of this fix) but it's not engaging. I'm lost now. Thoughts tell me the magnets shot....idgi. any ideas?