A/C blowing warm then cold idling & overcharged!!!

[66CUDA]

Originally Posted by Sharkemperor

Two questions....

1. Did it fix the problem?

2. How much was it if you don't mind me asking.

Looks like I am going in....

1. It apears so...but my problem was intermittent so only time will tell for sure. Just hearing the power cooling from the fan compared to the old one convinces me its fixed.

2. part was 150.00....A longtime buddy owns a shop and I had to argue with him to take some money. I forced $70.00 on him.

And as for you Mr. Slartyblarfast , I would of listened a lot sooner to ya if the fan would of completely stopped working and I didn't have a bad case of poison ivy on my hands so I could perform some tests.....

66CUDA

[hermit]

I had the same symptoms on my wife's 04 non turbo cruiser. I checked the relay by replacing and had no success. The original one was warm which indicated it was working anyhow. Fuse was good also. My AC was cold until the compressor started rapidly cycling then the idle dropped and all this was only at idle. The fan did not turn on until the engine got warm and the temp gage never went past half. I did add a little refridgerant and special coolant all to no avail. My mechanic ran a diagnostic code reader no errors there. So after all these tests some frustration and reading a handful of posts i decided it must be the fan and disconnected it and put 12volts to it via my jump box. The ground is in the middle and low and high sides on each side of the plug. While in the car the fan only worked on one side. The high side I assume because the fan would only work for the engine cooling, not a/c. I bought a new fan assembly for 125.00(Dorman brand) and it was direct plug and play. Followed mot directions except didn't remove the battery(was a tight squeeze but rotating the housing squeaked the assembly out) I wanted to test the fan again as new one are non returnable once plugged. Outside the car the fan worked on both speeds! I was very disturbed and after thought decided I wanted to put the new one in. Low and behold it now works properly and have decided the original fan must have connection issues inside as the fan was upside down when I bench tested it. I saved the original fan and may see if it's repairable and resell it down the road if so. It seems like a waste. It is a BOSCH brand and not cheap. I will say that the replacement was exact fit plug and all. But when bench testing they both sounded about the same. The Dorman was made in Thailand. I will say that when I turn the AC on the fan comes on simultaneously with the compressor cycling, and when I was testing everything I could hear the relay click when the compressor engaged. So I believe the signal come from the compressor when the fan is activated to cool the condensor. I hope this helps others. DO NOT rule out the fan if it doesn't come on with the A/C regardless of how any other car you have/had know of works. This defied even my mechanic's knowledge of things. If I hadn't been on this site I'd still be scratching my head and be flat broke with diagnostic charges from a dealer. I did the repair myself and saved a bunch. THANK YOU!

[slartyblarfast]

A lot of times what happens is the the engine will run hot enough for the low speed fan to come on which will make the A/C cool at idle. But it's intermittant. A properly working fan should come on as soon as the compressor comes on or very shortly there after. The brushes on the high speed side wear out and make it not work.

[hermit]

It's sort of moot now, but I'm curious which really is which. I've read and believe the low speed cools the condenser and high speed cools the radiator. But I've read posts that say contrary. Either way my car would idle poorly when the a/c cycled repeatedly and when the engine fan kicked on as you say it would cool the condenser only until the engine cooled down. I am curious if the oem motor I replaced can be taken apart and the brushes replaced if that was the issue and not a wire or other. I'd hate to toss something that if repairable successfully for 20-30 could be saved or sold at a reasonable rate to a needy owner. Or just shelved so if the Thailand made replacement failed this one could go back in. In any case I appreciate the help here and replaced the Cam Pos sensor painlessly due to info found here.

[Sharkemperor]

I am having trouble finding the right part. Has anyone found somewhere on-line that I can get the part?

[hermit]

Do you mean the fan motor/housing itself? I think you could go on ebay and just type the year and pt cruiser cooling fan. There's 5 pages ranging from $80.00-? brand new free shipping etc. I bought mine from a local parts store, but saw many on ebay new guaranteed etc. I would get it with the housing complete plug and go. Follow the directions about taking the grill off and pulling that forward to get the fan/housing out. Make no mistake about this fan issue. It will cause many troubles that make it seem like something other than it is. Once replaced the car will act normal again.