Ford FreestarThe Ford Freestar is a solid, highly capable minivan that performs well and offers all the latest safety features. Much of the Freestar's structure and design came from the Windstar it replaced. Windstar offered class-leading safety and solid performance for its time. Freestar is the highest quality minivan it has ever built.
Have an interesting problem that I need some assistance with locating the failing part. I have an 04 Freestar, 3.9 V6 with front and rear AC. AC runs fantastic when the car is going down the road. When at a stand still the story changes. The temperature start to get warmer from the air coming from the AC vents. Popped the hood, and put the gauges on the AC system. What I found was interesting. When the compressor kicks on, the pressure starts out normal 200high/34low and then both sides start to steadily climb. Just when they get real high on both sides, the cooling fans kick on high speed and the pressure returns back to normal. Fan turns off and the pressure starts to climb.
What I thought was weird with this situation is that when the compressor kicks on, the fans do not start running at low or normal speeds, they are turned off completely. It is only when the pressure starts to climb really high do the fans kick up on high and the pressure starts to drop, and then the fans turn off again. All cars that I have worked on previously when the AC compressor clicks on, so do the fans keeping a steady flow of air going over the condenser.
If the A/C is off, the fans will kick on normally at random intervals to keep the radiator cool.
Anyone have any experience with this on this model of vehicle and more importantly have any advice on what could be causing the fans not to run when the compressor turns on. Thank you in advance for any help.
You need to check low speed operation of the cooling fan,with the ac on low speed fan should be on at alltimes. I cant get onto the ford site but ill check backj
Not exactly sure on that model but I would guess it looks like a big blower resistor,it should not be open but the book give no actual resistance value.
Ok, checked the 30 amp cartridge fuse #3 in the engine compartment, and it's not blown. Saw what I thought is the resistor you were talking about and it looks like a giant connector. If I had the ability to upload a pic I would. Really don't know how to test this connector/resistor and any help would be appreciated. Could it possibly be any of the relays in the relay box towards the front of the engine compartment? Not sure which one it would be, but there are 5 of them in there. I have access to the AlllData electrical diagrams, so if you need to reference any of the diagrams in their database, I'd be able to find what you are referring to.
Groumd the og/lg wire at the droppin resistor and see if the fan comes on,if not verify you have 12 volts at both sides of cooling fan #1 with it plugged in,It is a hard diagram to decipher without seeing the vehicle 5 relays 2 fuses and a circuit breaker.Check with the ac on.
Ok, grounded the orange with light green stripe and the fan did not come on. Could not test the fan connector due to my meter dying on me. I will assume for now that it IS getting 12 volts at the fan since the fan will ramp up to high speed and medium speed when cooling the engine. Will try and get a meter tomorrow to test at the fan connector as you suggested.
I also noticed in the manual the circuit breaker in the relay box is for low fan speed if the vehicle is equipped without a towing package. I short circuited this connected with a 10A inline fuse and the fan also did not come on. Just thought I would throw that out there as an eliminated item.
Quick update: brought the van to a local mechanic that I've dealt with in the past when I don't have time to do repairs myself. I explained that the low fan speed would not engage when the A/C was turned on and therefore creating poor A/C performance when sitting still. I had the mechanic twice call me and insist that this was normal operation and that the fans only came on when neccassary heat was built up. I asked him to them expalin why the PSI on the high side of the A/C would climb to about 400 and then the fans would turn on high. He said that someone must have overcharged the system. I then explained to him that the A/C has never been charged in the 3 years I've owned the vehicle and to please explain why the pressure is normal when the fans are on but when they turn off, it climbs exponentially as it should if it's overheating. He did not have an explanation for this. Really frustrated at this point as I just want to get the damn thing fixed and it's really frustrating to know that if I choose to ignore this, I could be looking at a compressor failure in the near future which would cost me considerably more. Would the best suggestion be to bring it to a Ford dealership and have them diagnose and repair this?
Yes, find a better wrench, or DIY. You are on the right track, and thinking logically.
If you really want to understand the problem, you have to get a Freestar Wiring Diagram Manual. I now have manuals for the '02 Windtar, and the '06 Freestar, and use both for my '04, as I could not find a complete set of '04 on ebay last week. There is Vol I, Vol II, and Wiring Diagrams. Get all 3. The '05 manuals should be very close to the '04.
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04 Freestar A/C Cooling Fan Malfunctioning 
Hybrid Mode
