'98 Taurus A/C only works some of the time...

[onestackmack]

The first time I start the car every day, the A/C works great. It blows very cold air and the blower pushes it out hard. If I keep the car running on a long drive, everything works fine.

If I just go a few miles around town to run errands, when I start the car the second, third, or fourth time, the A/C doesn't work at all. The blower stops blowing, and it's hard to tell if the A/C compressor is working or not.

I asked a friend who is a good mechanic about this, and he's never heard of a problem like this before. I don't have an owner's manual to this car, so I can't tell what relay is connected to what.

I have a feeling I have a bad relay somewhere since the blower works good on all speed settings when it does work, and it blows cold air so the freon pressure should be OK.

I'm hoping this is a fairly common problem, and someone here has a simple fix to it that I can do myself. Any help here would be greatly appreciated.

[buxter]

I had a similar problem, had to mess with the compressor clutch it was worn off to the point where it would not engage after the compressor gets hot and the gap is too far.

Could be a lot of things as I have come to learn. But I would start with the cluth, if that's the problem a simple fix would be to take it off and remove a spacing washer that is put in to space it in the correct distance away from the fly wheel of the compressor. If the distance is too far the magnetic coil can't attract the clutch and get it to work at all.

A simple way to find that out is to look at the compressor and if the fly wheel is not engaged when your ac stops working that most likely is the problem.

But considering the fact that it does work and then stops means that the relays are most likely ok.

[onestackmack]

Thanks for the reply 'buxter'! It sounds like you may have the answer to my question. I'm going to put it into the shop soon, and I'll let you know what it turns out to be. I thought it was something I could fix myself.