Clicking noise from under hood. help!

[Slydude]

Good day to all!

I am having some difficulty troubleshooting this.

My 97 exp v6 ohc has this clicking noise from a fan wheel that turns on and off when my Air is on.

If I turn my air off, I have no problems.

Also, it seems as though my AC is always on. ??

Thanks!

 

[Glacier991]

That clicking is most likely the AC clutch cycling frequently because your AC refrigerant charge is low. The AC also runs if you have the heater settings on defrost. Have the AC system checked and top up the charge and your problem will likely go away. Look at the front of the AC compressor (that's the clutch) and you see that when it clicks in, it is running, and then when it clicks again it's not... that will confirm that's what it is.

 

[prozachappy]

What he said
How often does it cycle ? Fords do cycle on and off more often than a lot of other vehicles. At least you know your low pressure cut off switch is doing its job Glacier is right though, if the compressor is clicking on and off repeatedly then your pressure is probably low due to loss of refrigerant.
If you or a buddy don't have A/C gauges to check the high and low pressures, then if I were you I'd just go down to Walmart and buy a can of R134 w/hose and add. See if the system is just low and needs some refrigerent. If that doesn't solve your problem, or the system doesn't take any R134 then you know you have other issues and need to have it looked at.

 

[Slydude]

Thanks for the tips.

If I have my fan running on hot or cold it doesn't matter, this fan turns on and off at about 10 seconds intervals.

It's located at the front left (driver side) were the belts are.

My AC is still cold... when I turn it on.

I'll try the Wallmart thing.

 

[Aaron1]

My Exp does this also.Maybe i will try the R134 also.Sorry guys forgot to say Hey to everyone.What kind of container does this come in? Also you say it has a hose attached to it. Thanks for the info.

 

[n3m3s1s]

r134 comes in a lil can, slightly larger than a can of soda.

remember that explorers use the a/c system for all settings but 'off' and 'vent'.