I am 99% my A/C compressor has something wrong.
I do not think the clutch is working correctly.
The times it goes on this time of year are few.
But when it does, it chatters and makes all kinds of grinding noise.

I took it to the dealer to get the HV battery wire "fix".
At the same time I asked them to repair/replace the A/C clutch after I described the symptoms in detail.

I'm at 58,600 miles out of my 60,000 Ford ESP.

The dealer says nothing is wrong with the A/C clutch and won't touch it.
I'm sure when summer rolls around and I need this every day it is going to fail. Plus the grinding and chattering sounds are disconcerting, even if the A/C is cooling properly... for the time being.

What should I do? What can I do? I feel I "know" my car best... and I think the dealer is trying to put this off until after 60k.

What do you think? I will be at 60k in about 2 weeks.

Thanks in advance for any suggestions.
-John

 

As you are bouncing between states, can you try a different dealer?

Run the vehicle with the AC on & temp set as low as it can go while at the dealer so it makes the noise & ask if that horrid noise is "normal".

May be a bit harder to lie to your face while the vehicle is acting up at the same time right there infront of both of you.

Another option would be to call Ford Customer relations with the vehicle making the gridning noise & ask how that be normal or nothing is wrong as dealer XYZ is telling you?

Good luck!

 

Can you take it to another dealer for a second opinion and get an estimate of what it would be if you did not have an ESP (ex. You repaired it at a later date.)?

 

I think maybe at a minimum, just a CYA in case nothing else works, I would write a letter (sent certified mail) to the dealer explaining the situation and saying you are positive this is indeed a valid problem and it should be covered by warranty and that if something does happen in the next few months when it comes out of warranty you will expect them to cover it. Tell them that they have been hereby put on notice that this should be a warranty problem and they refused to fix it.

This would at least give you some ammunition to come back later and say "see, I told you so back then that this was a problem - so now what's your excuse for not fixing it under warranty?" And they can't say "sorry, there was no problem - what are you talking about?"

 

If it only makes noise when the compressor is engaged it is most likely NOT the clutch, you may be losing the compressor. Does it make the noise in the extreme cold or on warmer days (60'F)? R-134a freon does not work well in really cold weather as it gets very "thick" also the refrigerant oil is fairly heavy and might get to thick to properly lubricate the compressor. You might be trying to compress a liquid if the temp is below 28'F as the freon is liquid at 30" Hg pressure

If you can demonstrate the noise get it to another dealer an DOCUMENT the complaint. Most dealers will want to do the work because they make money on it, even if it is ESP.

FWIW I don't like to do A/C work when it gets below 60'F because the freon is so difficult to judge correct fill amount, but I would still make an attempt, just have you come back when it gets warmer for a free recheck.

 

Ford pays the dealer to make warranty repairs. Unless the warranty pay is too low, I think they would want to fix a problem.

If they say it is not the clutch, then maybe they can figure out what IS causing the noise.

 

I think it is the clutch, because the noise is only apparent when it first starts up... not when it is continuosly running. There is a grinding or chattering the first few seconds only. I noticed it mostly in the Fall when temps were 50's and 60's but AC was coming on for the battery.
( I work the battery pretty hard in the city, as you can see from some of my short trip MPG records below...)

I know the dealer gets paid from corporate for warranty repairs, but they must also turn over the defective parts to corporate as proof on the claim, right? I think they took a 5 minute look at it, and the problem was not apparent today.

Is the fact I asked them to look at it today, proof enough if it completely fails at 61 or 62k? Will the "look" they gave it today be documented?
They still have the car. They found a ground fault on the ABS when they were just checking the car. I have heard from some other owners about having ground fault issues on ABS also. One was a 2007. Just FYI. I had no MIL lamps. Neither did my friend with the 2007. -John

 

Agree that it would be key be to get the dealer to document 1) your complaint and 2) their response in the service record (dated)-- even if you have to pay a "diagnosis" fee-- at least when it fails you can go to Ford and show them that the problem predated the expiration of the ESP, even if the dealer couldn't figure it out.

 

I did just that.
I paid $100 for them to check it out.
They looked at it in the shop and did an 18 mile test drive and wrote a report: "Could not duplicate customer concern".

I'll admit, I could not get it to chatter when I first picked it up
( It was in a heated 65 degree garage ) but I could swear I heard A/C chatter the first time I turned on the defogger AC on the drive home...
( When it was about 40 degrees.... )

It only happens for a couple of seconds when it first starts up...
Not when it is actually running...
And it comes from under the hood....

 

Did you have a/c work done in the past? It might be a little low on refrigerant oil. I wish I could hear the noise.