A/C actuator switch

Josh Gentry

Josh Gentry

Ok, when Ron had my car he had the A/C worked on at the international meet in Flint, by the guys from Last Chance Garage, and they said it needs a A/C actuator switch. I have no idea what one of these looks like, or even where it goes. I have ben trying to track one down, and all the parts houses say they cant get one. I finaly found a guy who says he has one, but he says it would have to be the dash timp ccontrole switch, and I don't think thats what it is. I have tryed calling the guys from Last Chance garage, but 2 out of the 3 numbers are no longer in service. Acording to the back of the card I hav, it looks like Doug is the one I need to talk to, and of course he is 1 of the 2 numbers that it says is no longer in service. If anyone around Flint knows how to get in touch with Doug, that would be a big help, or if anyone knows what this switch is, or where I might be able to find one, that would be a great big help also. I'm trying to get my A'C fixed before the trip to Ohio next month. Thank you in advance for any help.


Thanks,
Josh
 
Good luck Josh and keep us informed. I dropped the Lifeliner off this morning so a NEW guy can check out the A/C and hopefully get it going again.

Keep your fingers crossed. :yum:
 
Tis the time, im having the ac rejuiced up on mine and i think i will need to replace the compressor clutch. It is making some noise.
 
Richard Vyse said:
Good luck Josh and keep us informed. I dropped the Lifeliner off this morning so a NEW guy can check out the A/C and hopefully get it going again.

Keep your fingers crossed. :yum:
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Hopefully your "NEW" guy is an old guy. When I had my Lifeliner I was fortunate enough to have a mechanic that had been around long enough to have worked on the Caddy Climate control stuff when it was current and had the right equipment too!
 
Josh

Send Sarah Snook a note. I believe she said those guys would be around this year to help out at the meet too.

She always helps out and I'm sure she will get you the number.

Hope this helps,
Darren
 
Thanks Darren, Ron said they would be there too, but I was hoping to get it fixed before the trip, but might have to tough it out.

Josh
 
It is the thing a mabobby that goes next to the whatchamacallit, along side of the turbo encapsulator.
 
I feel for you brother. The Lifeliner is at the mechanic's house that worked on my Vette checking the A/C trying to get it working again. He calls me at the end of the day yesterday to inform me he found a blown fuse, of course burnt wires and needed my approval to remove the dash to gain better access.

He has another temperature control head to be used if necessary so..... "KEEP YOUR FINGERS CROSSED".

Since it has been converted to 134.a I know it will never cool as well as r-12 but please, give me something!!

:snow_smi:
 
well, my a/c also does not work, also no fan, no nothing when playing with climate control lever and dial, my bother brad thinks he can just hook up a toggle switch and wire it to just turn compressor on and off. I have my doubts.

Dana.
 
Dana Bennett said:
well, my a/c also does not work, also no fan, no nothing when playing with climate control lever and dial, my bother brad thinks he can just hook up a toggle switch and wire it to just turn compressor on and off. I have my doubts.

Dana.
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Careful on the switch. I actually had a toggle switch installed to do that very same thing but as you can see, didn't work. I really keep praqying this guy can "Git-R-Done".
 
I may have found what I am looking for.


Josh,
Are you referring to the compressor switch? It is about an inch long with a nickel size disc on it, and has two wires going to it. This allows the compressor to turn on when the outside temperature is above freezing. I have one of those.


It sounds like this might be it.

Josh
 
If it were as simple as that ambient temperature switch, then they would have just bypassed it, and the air conditioning would be working.
The part that you need is the "brain" that electronically controls the heater / air condition functions of the system, and regulated the vacuum controls.
 
Paul Steinberg said:
If it were as simple as that ambient temperature switch, then they would have just bypassed it, and the air conditioning would be working.
The part that you need is the "brain" that electronically controls the heater / air condition functions of the system, and regulated the vacuum controls.
Click to expand...
Everything is working accept the compresser is not kicking on.

Josh
 
Put a positive wire to the compressor and see if it will energize and cool. Not a big problem to resolve.
 
A/C problems

Have you checked the thermotic fuse.it is usually located right next to or on top of the compressor,and has 3 terminals.it could be the culprit.it also can be bypassed,just to see if it will run.
 
Thermal fuse

Denny's right about the thermal fuse. It's a rectangular piece of black plastic, about the size of your thumb, usually clipped near the firewall, but I've seen them in several different locations. It would have 3 wires attached to it. If the original compressor is installed in the car, or a direct exact replacement, there is a small pressure switch mounted into the back head of the compressor. A black wire is attached to this switch. It's a protective device, designed to keep the compressor from running if there is a low, or no, refrigerant change in the system.

If there is a very low charge of refrigerant, this pressure switch grounds out, completing the circuit to a small heater within the thermal fuse. This heater heats up, melting a solder joint which has a piece of spring metal soldered to it. When the solder melts, the spring metal pulls away, opening the circuit to the compressor, disabling it until the leak is repaired, the system is recharged, and the thermal fuse is replaced.

Depending on the manufacturer or the thermal fuse, you can sometimes open the back of the fuse and simply re-solder the spring metal back into position, and the fuse should be functional again. Without seeing the '76 shop manual, though, I'm inclined to agree with Paul, that the "compressor switch" is not an independent control device, but rather is part of the control head in the dash of the car. Truthfully, I have a hard time imagining that this integral switch has actually failed for you. If it has, it's the first time I've seen it do so. I'm much more inclined to believe that something else is going on. Without meticulously tracing the circuit, you just won't know. I also agree with Paul, that for a few seconds, it would be ok to apply power to the compressor clutch coil, just to see if it pulls in normally. I hope this helps a bit. Tom
 

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