a/c 02 saturn L 300

If the fuse is blown those are the reading you will get.Try unplugging the a/c compressor and turning the a/c on with everything else plugged in and see if the fuse blow's/Let me know what you find.

Yes it still blows the fuse even with the compressor unpluged. If you unplug the pressure switch on the line it doesnt blow until you plug that in, but when you do like i said the fuse blows but the idle kicks up a little like it should even if the fuse is blown. I tried unplugging the fan in front of the air compressor thinking there was a short there but no difference either.

The fan for the a/c condensor is on a different fuse then the a/c fuse the a/c fuse is for the a/c compressor circuit only.When you plug the high pressure switch in it just sends power to the a/c compressor.You most likely have a wire going to the a/c compressor shorted to ground somewhere.

Could that be a wire from the compressor to the fuse box and or a wire from the pressure switch to the fuse box and or the compressor since the switch sends power to the compressor? Sounds confusing i no but thats the only way i could think of asking that. Cause it dont blow till i plug the switch in remember?

Do you have auto climate control or manual a/c?

it is manual a/c.

Alright remove the a/c fuse even unplug the pressure switch if it makes you feel better.Then get your ohm meter put it on 200 ohm scale put the black test lead to ground then unplug the a/c compressor and put the red lead to the green wire that goes to the a/c compressor.Let me know what the reading are?

ok i will in the morning cause its midnight here now.

With the ohm meter set at 200 not 200k right? The reading is .8

I just also checked it with the key on and it read 13.7 and thats not volts its 200 ohm just like you said???

Yes 200 ohm not 200K if you have .8 that is less then 1 ohm to ground on a power circuit to the a/c clutch there is your problem short to ground on that circuit like i was saying.

So your saying there is a short in that green wire that runs from the compressor? the black one is ok?does that mean its the same wire that is in the fusebox that keeps blowing the fuse? And if i follow that green wire from the compressor i should find it grounded out shorted somewhere? thanks for the help also what should the ohm reading be on that wire if all is ok?

Yes that green wire supplies power to the a/c clutch if it's ground then when power passes thru the fuse and down that wire the fuse will pop because of a dead short to ground.there should be no path to ground on the wire.Look at the diagram i posted it show's the fuse sending power thru the switch contact side of the relay so when the relay is closed the fuse sends power thru the relay thru the fuse box and down that green wire to the a/c clutch.Most likely between the a/c clutch and the fuse box you will find a short to ground somewhere.The black wire is grounded as you can see.

ok i'll keep working at it in the morning, so far i almost made it from the clutch to the fuse box stripping the tape an conduit i only got a little farther to go. If i dont find it before the fuse block then i'll have to take that apart to check the wire totaly right? thanks i hope i find it soon .

Yes there has to be a short somewhere causing the fuse to blow.Keep checking for that short to ground with the ohms meter also.

what should the reading be when the wire is not shorted? would it be 1.0 or 0.00

No it should read like the leads were never hooked up.

my meter starts out at 1. so is that what it should look like? also the black lead from the air compressor reads .8 like the green one did does that mean anything?

i just got done stripping the wire harness from one side of the car to the other and found nothing? i cut the wire right were it goes into the fuse box and the reading was the same .8. the fuse box is hard to get apart to look at the underside but thats what i got to do now right?

i found no short at all where i looked. could it be somewhere else? its hot and i got 2 little kids thats why im trying to fix it any other help would be appreciated.

After you cut the wire at the fuse box what is the reading at the green wire at the compressor?Also are you saying you have a connection to ground at the cut wire going into the fuse box.Do you have a blub test light?If so take the clip end and put it on the green wire see if the test light light's up if it does the wire is grounded.Also that black wire is supposed to be ground but if the green which feeds power is grounded then the fuse will blow.With the meter it should read out of limits or no reading at all to ground.

where i cut the wire about 6 inches from fuse box then tested it and the fusebox side reading was the same .8. and at the compressor theres no reading , cause the wire is cut? plus the fuse dont blow till i plug in the pressure switch and if its plugged in it will also blow if i turn the a/c on inside?

Unplug the a/c relay then see if the green wire going into the fuse box is still grounded.

yes the reading is the same??

do no if it matters but i checked it with it running and the ac button on today and there was no change in the green wire yesterday i thought it went from .8 to 13.7 but i guess i was wrong yesterday?? also i checked the black one with the car running and the ac button on and it read like 21.2 today?? like i said dont no if this matters but i dont no what else to check now?? should i start inside at the a/c button light and look for bad wires? thanks again

I posted a wire diagram that shows how the a/c fuse feed's power to the switch side of the a/c relay when the relay is given power and the relay triggers then sends power thru the under hood fuse box then out to the green wire to the a/c clutch.All this checking iam asking you to do is key off a/c off etc.You may have to take it somewhere to have it looked at.When your checking something like this you can't just go all over the place you have to just start from one end and work your way to the other end of the circuit.

ok i wont check it with the key on again i started at one end then ended up at the fuse box and didnt find nothing , ididnt mean to go all over the place but i thought maybe checking with the key on might tell you something? what about the diode how does the that connect everything and could that circuit be messed up? and i dont think any place around me could figure it out even the dealers arent very bright.

do you think i need to pull the fuse box apart to make sure nothing is bad where i cant see it? i tried to get it apart but couldnt, i unscrewed the bolts to the plugs on the bottom of the fuse box but it wouldnt come apart, do i need to take all the fuses out to get it apart do you know?

Lets not take apart the fuse box if try too you could ruin it.Try this remove that diode and see if the short to ground goes away to that green wire going into the under hood fuse box.

yes when you pull the diode it reads nothing it goes away.

Alright now were getting somewhere the diode is supposed to keep the flow of the circuit going one out and not allow it to back feed when the a/c clutch turn's off and keeps spinning it makes voltage and sends spikes back thru the circuit the diode keeps those spikes from doing any damage.Get yourself a new diode and lets start there.

ok i have to wait till tomorrow and get it from the dealer. do you know if they sell them at advance or autozone, they said no?

That is a very uncommon part i doubt those places would have something like that your best bet is the dealer or ordering it from the internet.

i finally got the diode put it in and everything tested good but the a/c dont work its getting 12-14 volts to the compressor now, so does that mean the clutch is bad? If so are they hard to do and do you have to evacuate the system to do it?

With the engine shut off does the center of the clutch turn freely?With the engine running if you have power and ground to the clutch and its not engaging and spinning the center then you have a bad clutch its better to replace the whole compressor.You will have to have the system evacuated and recharged when your done.You will also have to balance the compressor with oil.

Yes the center turns freely. How can i be sure i got ground to the compressor can i check the ohm reading like i was doing if so what should it read? Also the relay clicks and the idle goes up a little but the fan dont come on for the compressor, does it not come on till the compressor actually runs? I just want to know that so im not tryin to fix everything if its just the compressor i'll do it.

Now i just went out and checked it again and i had my wife turn the ac on and of with the car running and not and tapped the compressor with a hammer to see if i could get a click?? And after that i checked for 12 v and didnt have it at the green wire and im positive i checked it yesterday thats why i told you i had 12v??

My mistake it must only get power when the car is running i checked and 12v, i thought for sure i've been checking with the car off but must have not been. I checked the green and black and reversed them and 12 v both ways so the ground must be good and the center turns freely by hand, that suck it wont engage. Still wondering about the fan too if you could let me know?

On that car the a/c condensor fan only runs at certain vechile speeds a/c pressures temp etc it doesnt just run because the ac is on.Sounds like a bad ac clutch though from what you have found.

Do you no if there is a internal fuse or something on that compressor?