A/C is on; in relay compartment I hear crackling/clicking...

[dmcerm]

So I think I posted this before but need to ask again, since I can't search past threads on here before the change in the forum...

So when my A/C's on, they system is running normally and fine but I can hear, maybe not crackling, but clicking like something is not making good contact... it does after a bit but I can hear it clicking. It only happens when I'm running the A/C and my fans and A/C system stay running as normal. It's like it's struggling to make a good contact when they system is on...
Might I need a new relay of some kind, might this one be going bad?

Thanks a lot... again!

Mark
16891

[sean]

Could be either the compressor engaging or a fan fix/relay. Do you have and fan fix installed, i.e. Fanzilla, hervey's 2x2, or grady's grey box?

[dmcerm]

Not sure... what do these pictures of my relay compartment reveal... do I have any of those things? Maybe the 2x2 thing but I'm sure I don't have Hervey's thing or Grady's Fanzilla...
I am also missing the door lock box thing, I took that out since my door locks don't work.

But again, it almost reminds me of a relay having trouble making contact or something... thanks for the help!

[sean]

Yeah, you don't appear to have any fan unit installed but rather a fused jumper. You do have some other wire mods going on that compament. I would recommend running the car with the AC on and relay compartment opened up and see if you can get a visual on which relay is making the noise.

[Bitsyncmaster]

Holy modifications batman:cry::cry::cry:

This is going to be impossible to help you fix. Your dome light delay relay has been moved and many fuses hand wired. You should not have the fuse cover installed but maybe no fuses are left inside.

Like Sean suggested, run the AC while you have the cover open and feel which relay is making noise. It's normal to get a click when the fan relay goes on and off which it should when the AC cycles. But your explanation suggests your getting a relay making a clatter. You would need to identify the relay and photo the wires going into the relay socket for us to help you know whats wrong.

[dmcerm]

Right... all the fuse holders where done by me and my Dad, they were fried out of the fuse box so I have new inline holder installed and have them properly labeled so I know what they run.
The Orange inline holders were just replacements for the yellow and black ones that melted at some point, but that was just replacing what was already there.
Then the green relay with the green wires was a mod to get the fans runny again (back when I brought her home) because some one had this box royally messed up.
If you think it looks bad now, at least everything is wired and labeled correctly now, you should have seen it before, literally, I'm surprised it didn't ignite in the early days of me having it. So again, it may be modded, but it is back to original, at least with having things wired correctly.
And as for the fuse box, all the ones that are left in there are good and checked regularly... are you saying I should keep the cover off for cooling purposes?

[Bitsyncmaster]

You probably have all the high power fuses removed but we don't run the covers because some fuses do run warm and that heat gets trapped in there with the cover.

So you should be able to find the faulty relay (connection) if it's wired according to the schematic.

I have found a few bad connections in my fuse box and never could visibly see the problem. Using an ohm meter I found a bad ground on one relay but the crimps on the pins all looked good. Grounds are more hap to fail because of the double wires in each crimp and if one connection fails all of them are bad after that.

[dmcerm]

Yeah us too... we used an ohm meter to track down most of our issues, especially the one with the fan... and we did have the DMC schematic as well which helped a lot.
Like I said before, it might look hap-hazzard but from what it was before it's a night and day difference.
And I will remove the cover... never pass up a good tip.

[dmcerm]

Well now that I have my blower motor out for cleaning, I'll have to wait a few days to start to listen for this clicking...
I'm still thinking it is a relay going bad...

[john 05141]

As it was mentioned here before, the clicking is normal. It goes on and off every so many seconds. It you hear the cliks very frequently (fans go on and off every 3 or 4 seconds), you need to refill the AC gas.
But I heared not a single click last year but 4 or 5 clicks really fast and the AC went on. I replaced the relay and it was gone.


Question on the side. When the AC is on, the fans come on and off. While driving steady on the highway, do the fans come on also then despite there is a good airflow? And if not, how does it know the car has enough speed to run the AC without the fans?


John

[Bitsyncmaster]

Question on the side. When the AC is on, the fans come on and off. While driving steady on the highway, do the fans come on also then despite there is a good airflow? And if not, how does it know the car has enough speed to run the AC without the fans?


John

The fans come on and off when the otterstat or AC are on not dependent on the car moving. I would not think you would get air flow over the entire radiator and condenser with just the moving car.

[dmcerm]

Well... I have two things, first, as I stated in my original post, I knew I posted about this on the old forum and DMCMW told about replacing the cooling fan circuit breaker which I did... Now, someone just mentioned the A/C gas being low... Well, I need to get my system charged each summer, so now at the end of the season, that could be my issue. Maybe the gas is low, causing it to click or cycle a bit more often... Just thinking...

Thanks for all the suggestions.

Mark
16891

[Bitsyncmaster]

You can also hear the low pressure switch click. Low freon will make the cycle very short, just a few seconds between clicks.

[David T]

The clicks can also be the circuit breakers popping and resetting. If they are, you need the relay upgrade kit with uprated circuit breakers.
David Teitelbaum