Nimisys

a question for you all on where to start looking for a problem...

recently the clock and then ac stopped functioning in the car. the clock i can live with, the AC on the other hand i want because it is ******* hot. the blower still functions and the blower fan changes tone/speed whent he ac is turned on however it no longer is blowing cold air. the clock just doesnl;t show up period anymore. both happened overnight ( ie parked it for the night, turned it on the next day and they don't work) also the LEDs for the 2 AC switched no longer function, but they haven;t for the last 6 months i have owneded it

any ideas?

Icemark

Probably no Freon in the system. There is a pressure switch which won't allow the AC to work if there is not sufficent Freon pressure.

Icemark

and the LED's just need to be resoldered in the logicon control panel

HAILERS

Go to the drier for the a/c. Located just off centerline to the right, in front of the radiator. Has a pressure switch connected to it. Take the two connectors off the pressure switch. Turn the key to on. Jumper a wire b/t the two connectors. Did the a/c compressors clutch engage when you did this? Oh, turn the a/c on before doing this. If the compressor clutch engages with the wire jumper in place, then most likely the freon is low or the pressure switch is defunct.

SureShot

It's likely the "cold solder joint" issue has not been fixed on your car. Mazda had problems with the solder joints where connectors joined to circuit boards. There are some good writeups on this forum.
Your search keywords will be "cold solder joints".
-Bill

Nimisys

umm... this ac drier.. can't identify it ( helps if i knew what it looked like, but thats my ignorance getting in the way) is it below the battery tray, or below the airbox?

DaleClark

iTrader: (55)

First off, the AC system as far as turning on is pretty basic and pretty trouble-free. 9 times out of 10, it's a slow leak in the system that finally dropped the pressure low enough to not engage the AC.

That said, do a double-check of all your fuses - it's worthwhile to do. The clock going out is most likely broken solder joints in the idiot light cluster - that's the cause for that malady, 9 times out of 10. The AC switch in the logicon will usually register it's pressed in even if the light doesn't illuminate.

I would find a local AC shop that can do a test of your AC - they'll usually do a test for $10-20 or so, and give you an idea of what you're looking at. Unless you have the knowledge and equipment to test AC yourself (and it sounds like you don't), have a pro look at it.

I wouldn't jumper the wires to turn on the compressor - there's a reason that the compressor won't run on a low or no freon charge - it will bigtime damage the compressor. Just FYI, the drier that is mentioned is to the left of the passenger side headlight under the black plastic cover - it looks like a soda can with 2 hard lines going to it with a small round sight glass up top. You can see the sight glass through the hole in the plastic shroud, BTW - that's all you can see unless you remove the shroud.

If you have a leak, a good AC shop can find the leak, charge you up, and get you on the way. Most common leaks I've seen are the O-rings on the compressor, the evaporator under the dash, and the hard line that runs along the firewall - the cruise control cable on NA's rubs against it and wears a hole.

AC systems aren't super complicated, but there's a lot of groundwork knowledge to it.

Dale

Nimisys

found the drier - thanks.. but i agree if the system is desingged not to run on low pressure then it doesn;t make since to jumper the compressor... checked the hard line along the firewall... can see where the curise control lines used to run as there is a groove in it, at some point the revous owner had the line routed behind it so it no longer rubs.. however the gorrve is deep and i think i can feel a slight bit air coming out but i maybe just imangining it...

time to find a decent ac shop as my normal shop wants 120$ for a diagnosis... :/

thanks

DaleClark

iTrader: (55)

Might even want to try Pep Boys if you have one in the area - they do a full diagnosis for like $20.

Dale