AC worked OK until last week and it now works intermittently. At car start if it’s working then everything is fine until the car is turned off. The vents output cold air and there is condensed water dripping from the car. However there are times when at engine start the ac does not work at all. Warm air comes out of vent. So sometimes it works and other times it does not. What’s going on? Suspect relay/solenoid is not engaging the ac clutch to operate ac compressor. Any thoughts?
One guess, the computer may be temporarily suppressing the AC b/c it notices there’s a problem elsewhere, and leaving the A/C off is easier for keeping the engine running correctly. One possibility is the battery charge is low, and the computer insists to first recharge the battery befor allowing A/C. Ask your shop to test the battery and charging system. Or any good A/C shop should be able to tell you if this is the problem or not. I believe t’s usually possible to tell if the A/C compressor is is running or not, just by someone knowledgeable looking at it. So ask your shop to do that too.
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George has a good idea-check the condition of the 12V battery. It runs all the electronics and controls in the car, when it gets weak odd things start happening.
How old is that battery?