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A/C clutch fuse blows when engaged when unit doesnt blow the fuse the A/c works great
Optional Information: Year: 2004Make: ChevroletModel: 1500 Already Tried: keep replacing fuses when the fuse doesnt blow the system works great, also noticed the engine temp. has been going way up when the AC is working and at stop lights
Hello I will help you with your question,
If you are blowing the fuse for the clutch you have an issue with the clutch winding (likely) or the wiring to the clutch (less likely). You can inspect the wiring to the clutch fairly easily and the overheating issue is likely related to reduced airflow through the radiator. Be sure there is no debris on the condensor or between the condensor and the radiator. You have a fan clutch that should be fairly stiff to turn the fan when the engine is off and it is hot. The fan shroud must be in place to direct the air through the fan.
Let me know if any of these suggestion apply to your situation, the engine size and I will do what I can to determine the root cause of your problems
Thank you
The A/C works some times and then other times it does not could there be to much head pressure in the system??
Yes there could be too much pressure due to reduced airflow through the condensor or if the engine computer sees the coolant temperature it will turn off the compressor to try to cool the engine.
Is the radiator full or does it leak?
How does the truck run?
Is the check engine light on?
Has the AC system been worked on? Cooling system?
It is a chicken and the egg situation so we have to determine what the root cause is here or do you have two issues to deal with
Let me know the answers to my questions and we can move forward with narrowing down the cause
nothing has been worked on, its a vortec v-8, the coolent is fine, no check engine lights, truck runs great. the Ac just quit working one day two weeks ago going home from work, it has been speratic ever sense. put a bigger fuse in and the fuse still wants to blow. The fuse will blow even if the truck has been parked and not running. But like I said before it doent aways do it.
It does sound like the winding in the clutch is failing but look from the compressor to the fuse block just in case the harness has rubbed through and is intermittantly touching ground. Go back to the rated size fuse no sense burning your wiring harness up it will still blow the larger fuse so no sense in using it.
The overheating bothers me though, check the fan clutch when the engine is off and hot, you should be able to turn the fan but it should not spin freely.
This is not the Hybrid engine? Your eighth VIN is "T":? A 5.3L right?
There is not much between the clutch and the fuse except the AC relay so you could try swipping the relay with another of the same part number from the box to see if the problem moves with the relay but I doubt it will.
Let me know......
no hybrid, and i did switch the relay and it still does this
Then I woul plan on changing the compressor and clutch. A clutch alone costs almost as much as a complete compressor and clutch. Yours is 6 years old so the system should be evacuated and recharged at the same time. This is not something that can be done by the average owner as it requires a recycling machine.
The compressor draw can be monitored with a very fast ocilliscope to confirm the excess current draw that is blowing the fuse but this will cost at least an hours labor.
Since you are taking this to a shop to have the compressor replaced you should have them diagnose the problem so that they will warranty the work performed. Do noty allow them to put a remanufactured compressor on it will not last very long. The shop may offer to replace the clutch alone, this is one case where I could justify that to save a few dollars if money is very tight but you will still have a 6 year old compressor in that case
Let me know what I can do to help you with this
Experience: ASE Master Tech 15+ yrs, AAS Automotive Technology, Factory trained Asian specialist