88rxn/a

my pregnant fiance recently lost here A/C in her 2006 cobalt.
first thing i did was check the fuses under the hood on the driver side. fuses looked good. i switched 2 relays that were the same for the clutch and something else. no luck...
i pulled the connection directly to the clutch and tested with my light. the ground would light up but the power would not.
the clutch will not spin. it moves freely by hand.
i did make sure the A/C was turned on inside the car with it running but no luck. am i missing another fuse somewhere else on/in the car i can check?
what else can i check to see why i have no power to the clutch?

lsjion

could be a high or low pressure problem, if there is either, the computer will not send power to the clutch

PRND3L

The first thing I would do is make sure there is refrigerant in the A/C system. Its not something you can do, but the majority of A/C issues is usually due to a leak in the system.

lsjion

First thing someone should do it check for dtc's then proceed with looking over the system, if it all of a sudden stopped working, if it was working well prio to that is a leak, most likely in the condensor, since it's subjected to rocks and other road debris.
if no leaks are easily seen, the system should be evacuated, and put into a vacuum. if it holds a deep vac. ( 30") chances are it's just low, and could be a seal leaking a small amount, a technician may also add dye to the sytem to check for future leaks,
and onto the charge when the proper amount of refridgerant should be added, stay away from do it yourself kits. It is difficult to add the proper amount and can cause future cooling problems

PRND3L

Somebody has been studing for ASE tests!

lsjion

haha I have my mac's cert, but haven't ase'd yet,
I work at a honda dealer and we've been getting alot of a/c issues.
I just hate seeing people waste money on this stuff, it can get expensive but most of the time it's not terrible

PRND3L

I hear ya, i work at a Chrysler dealer, the A/C machine has been running non-stop for the last 2 weeks.

lsjion

it's really good money that's for sure. I spilled some pag oil on me yesterday on accident......that was probably the worst thing I've ever made a mess of

88rxn/a

so typically, is this an expensive fix? i was thinking it was a leak in the back of my mind but hoping for a fuse.
i know a condenser is not cheap, if i found a used one (we are selling the car at the end of summer) is it expensive to get charged up. i did not see any leaking from it though. i thought it looked like it was leaking on the lines going to the radiator in the front? is this a common spot?
anyone have a range what i might pay?

lsjion

at a good shop, roughly 100 bucks to evac and recharge, some have specials this time of year. leaking refrigerant is very oily and won't just wipe off like water might.
It's hard to say over the interwebz.

Typically a fuse won't blow unless for some reason there was excessive resistance in the curcuit, maybe a grounded wire, or corrosion/water, so on a car that new you'd be lucky to find a fuse at fault, A relay is always a possible. But you already tried that, can you hear the compressor kick on/off and do both fans come on when ac/ of defrost is on?

88rxn/a

i watched the compressor (laid on the ground) with car running and A/C on for 5-10 minutes and no luck. never kicked on. i know they cycle and it never did once. i dont think both fans kicked on either.
100 beans is cheaper than i thought. although im not 100% sure if its leaking or not. i have some more investigating to do. any prone areas where it could leak?

88rxn/a

i found the leak. its the condenser core in the front. one of the tubes on the bottom passenger side rusted through and leaks.
looking on rockauto parts. com, im not sure which one i need?
could someone help?
RockAuto Parts Catalog

lsjion

if the fan didn't come on, it seem it may not be seeing the request from the switch.
When you switch to defrost or a/c that request goes to the computer, where it takes into consideration of hi/low pressure switched, if it's low the circuit will not be completed. But, the a/c fan should come on regardless, seems like there may be a [rpblem with the hvac unit, this is where a scanner would come in handy to see if the computer is seeing the input from the switch

lsjion

seems like they are all options, if it were me however I'd put an ac delco on it, however if money is an issue, one of the others will suffice

88rxn/a

only reason money is an issue is because its getting traded in at the end of the summer for something easier to load a baby in. not really wanting to dump to much into it. i still got to get it operational though...LOL
and thanks so far for the help?
reason im 99% its leaking there is because i found oil in that spot with dirt sticking to it.

lsjion

then I'd say you found it, that's the way to easily see if refrigerant is leaking. One thing you could do it call a shop and ask them a quote to buy and replace through them. If you did it yourself, you would need to evacuate it first to be legal and safe. Many shops have a company they go through for radiators, condensors and such