1994 Mercury Tracer CAR SHUTS OFF -PLEASE HELP

PNEGRO1

MEMBER
1994 MERCURY TRACER
4 CYL
FWD
AUTOMATIC
93,000 MILES

MY OLD CAR GETS ME AROUND TOWN-BUT TODAY I TURNED ON THE FRONT DEFROSTER/DEFOGGER AND THE CAR JUST SHUT OFF---IT STARTED RIGHT BACK UP-SO PLAYED WITH IT--IT SEEMA WHEN I TURN ON THE HEATER -IT DOES NOT SHUT OFF-BUT SLIDE IT TO DEFROSTER-- IT MAKES A GIRGLE NOISE AND SHUTS THE CAR OFF--WHY--WHY NOW -IM A SINGLE MOM AMD ITS ALL I HAVE AND CANT AFFORD REPAIRS NOW -MY ELECTRIC AND GAS ARE DUE TO BE SHUT OFF AND I DONT HAVE THAT EITHER --CAN I STILL DRIVE AND JUST NOT PUT DEFROST ON EVEN THOUGH ITS RAINING RIGHT NOW--PLEASE ANSWER ---THANK YOU --PAM

Wednesday, May 27th, 2009 AT 9:20 AM

5 Replies

RACEFAN966

MECHANIC
5,029 POSTS

OK now let me get some info so we can see what can be done with little to no money spent ok. Now what I need to know is if you car has air conditioning? Get back to me with that and we will go from there ok. Thanks

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Wednesday, May 27th, 2009 AT 10:23 AM

PNEGRO1

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YES IT HAS A/C--AGAIN I WAS PARKED IN FRONT OF MY HOUSE -SO I TURNED ON HEATER LOW FAN SPEED-OK--THEN SLIDE THE KNOB TO DEF AND CAR SHUT RIGHT OF AND MADE SORT OF A POP NOISE-
BUT I SLIDE IT BACK AND TURNED OF ALL AND CAR STARTED RIGHT UP--YES IT RUNS A LITTLE ROUGH BUT ITS 14 YRS OLD--THANKS FOR YOUR INPUT --I M JUST KEEPING MY FINGER CROSSED THAT IT CONTINUES TO RUN

PAM N

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Wednesday, May 27th, 2009 AT 5:23 PM

RACEFAN966

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Ok I know it seems strange that I ask if it has a/c but when you turn on the defrost that makes the a/c turn on to cycle. My thought is that this is what is stalling the engine. So what I would like you to is unplug the a/c clutch so it can't come on and see if this stops this from continuing. Here is a pic of the a/c unit there should be a two wire connector to it just simply unplug it and make sure it can't contact anything moving and see if the problem goes away. If it does the the a/c is why your car die's. Let me know what you find here.

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Thursday, May 28th, 2009 AT 10:10 AM

PNEGRO1

MEMBER
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Hi there--i received your reply again and afriend happened to be over and said he afrees and thinks it could be a bad a/c compressorhe knows alittle about cars-again a little--not like you--one more thing and I will stop bothering you--i now rember that for the last week or so-i kind of noticed a slight sqeaky belt noise--poss a/c belt maybe?--If so =if it sanaps will car still run?-And I will disc the connection you talked about -its pouring rain in ny now--but if I discnt and the problem does not happen--should I keep it discnt =can you or should you?--I would like to thank you from the bottom of my heart for all your help--i have faith people again--your ones of the good ones---thk you soo soo much ---pam

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Thursday, May 28th, 2009 AT 6:51 PM

RACEFAN966

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First off you are not a bother so don't worry about that. Now as for the belt noise it is a serpentine belt system so you have one belt that drives everything so you may need to replace the belt. As for disconnecting the A/C and driving it will not hurt a thing. However if you want a/c again you have to replace the a/c compressor thats all. Let me know how it goes with disconnecting the a/c and if you have any more questions please feel free to ask.

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Thursday, May 28th, 2009 AT 10:13 PM