The 2001 Ghia X petrol with climate control I bough a couple of months ago has problems with its aircon now. When purchased I had the system serviced and re-gassed as a routine job. It has worked fine until last week when going to it in the middle of a hot day the aircon failed to come on.
Today I've had the gas re-checked and that's fine. The whole climate system seem to be trying to do its job OK as otherwise it does all the right things to heat/cool the car.
The aircon only comes on about 50% of times when it should. If it does come on it will be on for that whole journey and then it is a lottery to see if it kicks in the next time you start it up.
When it's not working I can see the compressor inner pulley isn't spinning.
Any thoughts,
David
Edited by Webmaster on 13/05/2008 at 19:06
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Yes,the compressor clutch clearance needs adjustment.This is a fairly easy job and can be done without removing the compressor from the engine.Take it to a competant a/c independent specialist.hth
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Many thanks a/c doc. I'll get onto it this week and let you know.
David
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Set of shims only 1.50p from Ford and an easy 30min job.
Remove drivers side wheel plus lower plastic splash panel. Support with axle stands. Undo 14mm nut on end of aircon pump with 3/8" drive socket. Hold pulley still with large flat blade screwdriver. Nut isn't too tight.
Shim is behind the inner clutch section that pulls off spline. The main outer pulley and aux belt stays in place with tension undisturbed. My old shim was a .8 (you have to measure with micrometer) and the packet of 6 new ones were from .5mm - 1.0mm.
I used a .6 and that brought the pump clutch operation back to how it should be checking both engagement and disengagement were OK. Putting in a thinner shim makes the clutch surfaces closer before the magnetic switch pulls them together completely when aircon selected.
Thanks for pointing me in the right direction.
David
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BTW the Ford shim kit is part no. F4056275.
Initially the dealers didn't want to bother looking up the part because "we don't do any seperate bits, you'll need a whole new compressor pump"!!
David
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Note the shim kit part number given is for a 2001/2002 petrol model, diesels and other years may have a different part number.
Also I can confirm after 10 days of aircon use the repair has been a 100% result.
David
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Thanks for posting the repair detail & the follow-up!
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Hi Guys, I have a 2002 2.0 ghia x estate and the air-con starts ok but after a few minutes turns itself off. If I leave it a while and try again it does it all over. The dealership says I need a new aircon clutch...nearly £ 400.00 to supply and fit. Do you think this is necessary or is it to do with the other problems i've been reading about on this site?
Look forward to your ideas!!
Cheers, James.
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Hello,
Does someone have a photo of that pulley which should be lock by scredriver ? Is it that hole on aircon compressor ?
Best Regards
Seb
Mondeo 2.0 petrol, 2002y
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I had same prob. garage wanted to charge me £138 to recharge gas and fix faulty clutch on air con so thats an extra £78 on top of recharging gas alone. Now on doing some research I have fixed problem myself for atotal of £2 yes two quid.
This is how to do it.
Ring or go to your ford dealer and order a pack of air con clutch shims part no.4 056 275. Thats where you spend your £2. should get them the next day.
Jack up your car drivers side and remove wheel (please for your own safety use an axle stand) then remove plastic cover (4 hex screws with 10mm socket and 1 with 8mm socket).
You will see a set of pulleys, the air con one is at the lowest and nearest to front. On the front of this is a plate (the clutch) which you should be able to rotate by hand. Using a 14mm socket undo nut in centre, you will have to wedge plate whilst undoing it with a screwdiver to stop it turning. Slide clutch off splines on shaft and remove washer(shim). In your pack of shims select one that is next size down and replace. Tighten up plate.
You can now try it out by turning on engine(remember gear in nuetral) and turning on your climate control set at lo. Should now be all ok. You may need to go another size smaller on shims depends how worn the clutch plate is.
Cheers boys
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I had similar a/c symptoms on my 2002 petrol ghia, tried the clutch shim method and sure enough, did the trick.
Found out the hard way why M.M specified using a 3/8" drive socket set to remove the nut - not enough clearance for a 1/2" drive between the clutch and the inner wing, nearly gave up at that point but persevered with a 14mm ring spanner and eventually got it. Then realised I didn't have a micrometer but laid out the shims on a piece of glass and ran a thumbnail over them to determine the next size down.
I just wanted to express my gratitude to elekie&a/c doctor for sharing your expertise and to M.M and malc1871 for detailing the method. I was nearly resigned to taking it to an a/c expert so many thanks for saving me a fortune, cheers!
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I was really hopeful that this tip would fix it for me too, but alas no joy, I am guessing it is probably a wiring fault, but looking at it I can't even get my hands to the terminals to check them out. In the car the A/C shows on the digital display and the fan works fine, just the clutch doesn't kick in to drive the compressor, any other suggestions would be very welcome!
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Does the Air con system need to be gassed for the clutch to work.
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Most definitely yes. No gas-no pressure-no pump.
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