# 97 Thunderbird - A/C keeps starting & stopping **URL:** \ **Category:** Maintenance/Repairs\ **Created:** [July 24, 2015, 4:30pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/97-thunderbird-a-c-keeps-starting-stopping/90701 "2015-07-24T16:30:10Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![RSGreensboro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RSGreensboro](https://community.cartalk.com/u/RSGreensboro)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2015, 4:30pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/97-thunderbird-a-c-keeps-starting-stopping/90701/1 "2015-07-24T16:30:10Z")
My mom has a 97 Ford Thunderbird. About 1 month ago the air conditioner stopped working, it wouldn’t blow out anything. Knowing that it could be a number of items and not sure of the cost, she decided not to have it fixed. Earlier this week it started working again on it’s own. It worked for 1 day and then stopped again. Does anyone have any idea what could’ve caused this? It seems to me that if it came back on that it may be a simple fix like a fuse. Any help will be appreciated!! ---
**Author:** ![chaissos](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/chaissos/32/2347_2.png) [@chaissos](https://community.cartalk.com/u/chaissos)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2015, 5:28pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/97-thunderbird-a-c-keeps-starting-stopping/90701/2 "2015-07-24T17:28:41Z")
Have the refrigerant pressures checked. That would be my first (but by no means only) place to start. This could be electrical (check connection on the A/C pump itself). See what that gets you, and go from there… ---
**Author:** ![shanonia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9de053/32.png) [@shanonia](https://community.cartalk.com/u/shanonia)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2015, 6:13pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/97-thunderbird-a-c-keeps-starting-stopping/90701/3 "2015-07-24T18:13:05Z")
If it doesn’t blow out anything, the problem is likely with the heater’s fan motor or its switch. ---
**Author:** ![Manolito](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/manolito/32/3070_2.png) [@Manolito](https://community.cartalk.com/u/Manolito)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2015, 6:14pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/97-thunderbird-a-c-keeps-starting-stopping/90701/4 "2015-07-24T18:14:36Z")
Is the AC the only thing that stops working? I have never actually seen a circuit breaker breaker on a car, but I had a rental ford of about that vintage once that seemed to pop a circuit breaker when the AC was running. Unfortunately, on that car, the windows would fail at the same time so just when you wanted to roll down your window, it did not work. The breaker seemed to cool down and reset itself after a few minutes. ---
**Author:** ![andrewRA](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e5b9ba/32.png) [@andrewRA](https://community.cartalk.com/u/andrewRA)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2015, 6:24pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/97-thunderbird-a-c-keeps-starting-stopping/90701/5 "2015-07-24T18:24:47Z")
On two of my vehicles such behavior was corrected by a simple $10 AC relay that goes in the fuse box. ---
**Author:** ![asemaster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@asemaster](https://community.cartalk.com/u/asemaster)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2015, 6:29pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/97-thunderbird-a-c-keeps-starting-stopping/90701/6 "2015-07-24T18:29:27Z")
When you say the A/C doesn’t blow out anything, do you mean it blows out air but it’s warm or it doesn’t blow out any air at all? ---
**Author:** ![RSGreensboro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RSGreensboro](https://community.cartalk.com/u/RSGreensboro)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2015, 9:22pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/97-thunderbird-a-c-keeps-starting-stopping/90701/7 "2015-07-24T21:22:21Z")
It does blow out hot air. Just that one day it switched to cold. We did try & add additional Freon to the car, but it was already full and wouldn’t take any. ---
**Author:** ![Honda-Blackbird](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/honda-blackbird/32/3159_2.png) [@Honda-Blackbird](https://community.cartalk.com/u/Honda-Blackbird)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2015, 10:08pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/97-thunderbird-a-c-keeps-starting-stopping/90701/8 "2015-07-24T22:08:16Z")
Sounds like you are low on refrigerant charge and the AC system is “Cycling”…they will do that when they leak out the coolant charge right to the verge of having just enough charge to activate the pressure switch…and sometimes not enough… Have the charge of the AC checked…I would guess that this has never been checked or topped up…and for a 97’ your system has worked long enough without attention. Blackbird ---
**Author:** ![chaissos](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/chaissos/32/2347_2.png) [@chaissos](https://community.cartalk.com/u/chaissos)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2015, 10:16pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/97-thunderbird-a-c-keeps-starting-stopping/90701/9 "2015-07-24T22:16:07Z")
> **It does blow out hot air. Just that one day it switched to cold. We did try & add additional Freon to the car, but it was already full and wouldn't take any.** It's not too difficult to overfill an A/C system, so if you're not sure what you're doing, you probably shouldn't try that. If everything else works (heat, fan, etc), then you’re still stuck with either an electrical problem (loose or damaged wiring, loose connector), or a system problem with the A/C itself. You’ll need to have someone qualified look at it.