No idea what’s going on here since info about pressures, etc is not known but inspecting the A/C for proper operation should not require a hot day to do it.
Even on a cool day, if the pressures are correct the evaporator outlet tube should be very cold and sweating.
Idling on a hot day is not suicide for an air compressor. Matter of fact, the compressor will work a bit easier at idle than at elevated RPMs. When the RPMs go up the high side pressure also goes up a bit. This means the compressor is working harder at speed.
If you can determine what those high/low side pressures are both at idle and at elevated RPMs and post them, this may help in at least formulating a wild guess.
65 is the low setting on the climate control. 60 is an override setting that puts the climate control into manual max cooling mode. When set to 60 it ignores the interior/exterior temperatures. You need to find better mechanics.
Back at the shop, unfortunately I have $300.00 invested in this problem and still not fixed. Mechanic says that he thinks it is the “thermo-transducer” sending a false reading to the computer, thus cutting off the compressor.(his friend at the dealership said he has seen (3) five hundreds with this problem) I was told that the part is under $50.00 and he will put it on at no charge since the expansion valve fix was not the problem. Any ideas on this? willetj have you gotten yours fixed? what was the problem?
Everyone I appreciate your help. Mechanic said he believes it is the pressure transducer switch sending a false reading to the computer, does this sound feasible? He assures me it is not the compressor. The switch is a $50.00 part and he will put it on at no charge, since the expansion valve fix was not the problem. Said he talked with ford tech and this has come up several times and it was the transducer. I would rather try this than replace the compressor. Thoughts.
It seems like we are off the blend door as the problem, but if you want a check on that, stick a rapid read thermometer in a dash vent and drive until the engine is warm. Set the HVAC controls to the dash vents and turn the blower to high with the AC off. Get a stabilized reading. Take the thermometer out and stick it out the window. Compare the readings. I guess they should not be too different. The panel vent will be a little higher, but if it is more than 5 degrees, you probably have a problem.
Guys, I appreciate everyones input, thanks for being a sounding board to help solve my problem. The problem is…compressor! The transducer did not fix the problem today and after tucking his chin the mechanic confirmed it had to be the compressor. He printed off an estimate at a total of $1179.61, but after discussing with him that I did not want to pay dealer retail for parts (total 663.33) I can buy parts myself and he will just charge labor-$324.50. I have found parts for a total of around $225.00 and they will be in by the end of the week. I am disappointed in the fact that so much time and money was wasted for wrong diagnosis, but I do applaud the mechanic for not trying to go the expensive and easy route first, and actually trying to diagnose the problem. Total spent in the end close to $850.00. Dealer list for compressor is $551.98. Ice cold air in Texas summers…Priceless!!
I sincerely hope your vehicle gets repaired, but considering this is an '07 with a measly 60k miles I’m mildly (?) skeptical about the diagnosis. If the compressor was bad this should have been apparent during the first repair if everything was properly done.
There’s an old saying about throwing a bucket of mud at the wall to see how much of it sticks. Good luck and keep us informed as to results.
Guys, thanks for all your help, it was the compressor. After everything is said and done it is now blowing ice cold all the time. Now on to the next problem with this car that I just noticed happening this week. When I first start and drive the power steering makes no noise and works fine, as the car warms up and has been driven awhile I am hearing what sounds like a power steering pump whine. This noise goes up and down with the accel and decel of the car, but never completely goes away. I checked the fluid it is full, but I did notice it bubbly (boiling) in the resevoir. I dont think this is normal, is it? Am I in for a pump replacement on this also. This car has been problem free for the first 60,000 miles. It is just now giving me problems. Thanks
It’s not boiling, it’s more likely to be air bubbles. I would guess a small leak on the suction side of the pump. (This is more of a guess than the compressor issue was.)
I am having the same problem with my five hundred, a/c gets hot while sitting still, cold when driving. This generally means that your are not getting enough air flow across condensor, which would cause a/c to act in this manner. I think I found that the cooling fans are not coming on high speed, I believe the cooling fans have a control module mounted to fan assembly on drivers side, which would be causing the problem.
Well, we have a 2005 ford 500 with 49450 miles and have the same problem. The ford shop said it was the compressor but looking over all the replies it isn’t. Please…please tell me what we should do.
please tell me there is a solution other than replacing the compressor… i have a 2006 Ford 500 with 39500 miles and live in deep south Texas minutes away from DSouth Padre… we are averaging 96 degrees and need aan AC bad… but to replace the compressor on a car that has less than 40000 miles on it just sounds absurd… if i have to put in an extra 1000 on a car i am not finished paying and just 3500 miles over the factory warranty, i might as well trade it in and get another care with a 1000 i am going to put on the a/c i will just put in on a down payment… needless to say, i am pretty livid about this…
where would i be able to find a compressor at a low price on line so i can get the mechanic to replace it, so that i wont have to pay Ford retail price… please help, any other solution would be appreciated…
I’m having a similar problem to the original poster. My mechanic says its the compressor and I tend to believe what he says. Unfortunately he says that all his suppliers (Atlanta, GA) and Ford and Motorcraft say they don’t have one. If he gets the part(s) the labor is guaranteed if they go bad. If I buy them it isn’t so I’m skeptical. One site I’ve seen (this seems way better) said reprogramming the ECM chip helps. We already need to do that for another issue this car is having related to a TSB. I think i’ve found the parts at this site: http://www.discountacparts.com/addtocart~year~2005~make~Ford~model~Five_Hundred~descript~A-C_Compressor~part~60-01971.asp
but i’m not sure. Has anyone heard of them? Does anyone have advice? Thanks so much for taking the time.
kellerody,
I’m having the exact same issues with my 2005 Ford Five Hundred. I was almost 100% sure it was the compressor by reading other posts on other sites, but this is the first I’ve seen with the exact problems I’m seeing. Could you let me know where you got your compressor (is it still working?) and who did the work for you? I’m in the same boat.
I am a technician who is working on the same vehicle at the moment and having the exact same problem. I already verified that my problem is the compressor and waiting approval from the fleet company. This car sits and idles for hours on end and it came in with the complaint of no a/c at idle. I checked pressures at idle and the low was 60 and the high was 130 psi. When I rev the vehicle the low side prssure drops to 30 and the vent temp goes from 70* to 50*. I bypassed the heater core to eliminate any dash / blend door problem and even froze the expansion valve with CO2 and it would drop from 60 to 30 psi when I froze it and it should have dropped to 0 or even went into a vacuum so I revved it to 2000 RPM and froze it and it dropped to zero so I am convinced that the compressor has a bad reed valve in it even thought it can pump out 175 psi on the high side if I kill the a/c fan. I will keep you posted on the outcome when I get it fixed it they approve.
I have a 2006 and the same problem. when you’re on the hwy it’s ok but sit still and hot. We had it fixed and it was the compressor. it lasted for about 6 wks and now it’s happening again. we were told not to have it on in puddles or dirt roads because it is at the bottomof the car. we went thru some really high water the other day and the next morning it was hot. hopefully it is something simple [plug, short etc…]they said it could be that or a o ring orrr the coil? you think there would be a recall.
2005 Ford 500: At the beginning of our 3500-mi road trip (in July!) it seemed the a/c wasn’t always blowing as cold as usual. 2400 miles into the trip we had a mechanic look at it; he thought it was probably the expansion valve. We didn’t have time to leave it with him, but drove home – it was okay on the drive home because we were mostly at highway speeds. Our mechanic replaced the expansion valve, but that didn’t fix it; now he says it needs a new compressor. Oh, by the way, the compressors are on “national backorder”! No one knows when anyone will have them available. We’ll be out of the 90’s in a couple of months – I guess I’ll survive:)