A/C button not engaging compressor

Tiny
NEWUNIT18
  • MEMBER
  • 1995 TOYOTA COROLLA
  • 1.6L
  • 4 CYL
  • 2WD
  • AUTOMATIC
  • 250,000 MILES
I have had an ongoing A/C problem with my car, which I now believe to be an electrical issue. It started when the A/C stopped working one day, and I noticed that when the A/C button is pressed in with the fan slider in the on position on any setting, the button blinks for a fraction of a second then shuts back off. When this first happened, a friend noticed that the ac fan seemed to be seized up and we assumed that to be the problem. The fan had been working up until that point.

I replaced the A/C fan, and it did not fix the issue. The light on the A/C button still blinks for a fraction of a second when you first turn it on. At this point I assumed it was a relay or fuse, checked the 10A fuse in the right kick panel and it's good. Changed all of the relays under the hood in the AC relay area as well as the actual A/C button module itself (A/C button is removable and slots into the climate control center on this model) just in case. Still nothing.

Finally my mechanic suggested it could be a bad low pressure switch. He jumped the compressor to the battery just to be certain it isn't the clutch or compressor and it cut right on and blew ice cold air. Bought a replacement trinary switch and chucked it on. Nothing.

I have now replaced everything I can think of short of the A/C amp, the ECM, climate module, or the wires. I jumped the compressor to the battery myself and it cuts on. Jumped the MGC relay and it cuts on both the A/C fan as well as the clutch and compressor.

Is this the amp?
Tuesday, July 28th, 2020 AT 2:05 PM

7 Replies

Tiny
KASEKENNY
  • MECHANIC
  • 18,907 POSTS
Short answer is yes it could be but we can confirm this. Turn the engine on and A/C on and then we need to check for voltage at pin 2 of the relay.

To do this, remove the relay and put you red meter lead on battery positive and then the black lead on pin 2 of the relay. When the AMP gets the ground path from the ECM it will show 12 volts on the meter.

If you don't get 12 volts then we need to go to pin 8 of the AMP and do the same test. If you get 12 volts on the meter then you know the AMP is the issue. If you still don't then the ECM is not grounding the relay.

Let me know if you have questions. Thanks
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Tuesday, July 28th, 2020 AT 2:15 PM
Tiny
NEWUNIT18
  • MEMBER
  • 7 POSTS
Okay, I checked the relay socket at pin 85 on the relay against the positive terminal (which i'm pretty sure is pin 2 in your diagram, correct me if I'm wrong.) And got nothing. Thanks for your help, this site is a godsend. I don't have time to tear my dash apart right now so I'll have to test the amp at a later time but I will update when I do, it may be a week or more.

If I'm understanding you correctly once we get the dash opened up to get to the amp I need to check pin 8 against the positive terminal on the battery, and if I get nothing there I need to replace the ECM. If it grounds correct there I need to replace the amp, correct?
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Tuesday, July 28th, 2020 AT 2:44 PM
Tiny
KASEKENNY
  • MECHANIC
  • 18,907 POSTS
Correct. The PCM grounds that relay which will close the other side of it and send power to the compressor. So if you have nothing on the relay then test the controller/amp the same way to confirm it is a PCM. If not then it is the amp.

Take your time. We will be here whenever you get back to it. Thanks.
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Tuesday, July 28th, 2020 AT 7:22 PM
Tiny
NEWUNIT18
  • MEMBER
  • 7 POSTS
We finally got this fixed. After troubleshooting the issue following your instructions, we swapped the A/C amp out and it did indeed fix the issue. A/C is now running great. Thanks!
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+1
Saturday, January 1st, 2022 AT 3:59 PM
Tiny
KASEKENNY
  • MECHANIC
  • 18,907 POSTS
That is great info. Thanks for coming back and updating us. That will surely help others in the future if they have the same issue.

Thanks
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Saturday, January 1st, 2022 AT 4:05 PM
Tiny
NEWUNIT18
  • MEMBER
  • 7 POSTS
Sorry I didn't update this sooner. We didn't mess with it for a long time, got it fixed a few months ago after actually testing it but didn't come back. Now i'm having a different issue lol but thanks for all your help fixing that.
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Saturday, January 1st, 2022 AT 4:18 PM
Tiny
KASEKENNY
  • MECHANIC
  • 18,907 POSTS
Haha. Not a problem. We are just glad that you came back and gave us that info.

Let us know if we can help with the new issue. If you can get a new post started, we will get back with you with any suggestions.

Thanks
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Saturday, January 1st, 2022 AT 8:01 PM

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