I have a '95 DX and my AC has stopped working. It worked perfect before last winter and I use it periodically through the winter to clear the fog off the inside of the windows. My head gasket went a month or two before the spring hit so the car was laid up in an unheated garage for roughly a month. I went on a trip a month ago and after fiddling with the heater controls I got the AC to kick in for about 5 mins. I've looked through a number of posts and have done the following:

1/Checked and there is 'freon'.
2/Checked both fuses, they're good.
3/Checked and condenser fan does come on.
4/Both relays appear to be good(tried both on the condenser fan circuit and they worked)
5/Tried jumping the compressor clutch and it doesn't seem to kick in.(no click and it doesn't appear to spin)

I seem to have narrowed it down to a problem with the compressor clutch so my question is this:
Is there a way to run 12v directly to the compressor to see if the clutch engages (a wire may have been damaged during the head gasket fiasco)? Also is there a way to service the clutch on the compressor as it seems a was to have to junk the whole thing because the clutch is wonky?

Thanks.

 

you can turn your a/c on and jump the a/c with a +12v wire from battery to the red wire coming from the a/c compressor....to check if it works..... i believe they make a clutch rebuild kit for the a/c compressor but you need to locate the problem first before thinking about buying parts

 

Jump the clutch only with the engine OFF. If you start the compressor with the fan not running, the pressure will almost immediately increase to a dangerous level. And since it is jumped directly to the battery, the over pressure switch won't protect you.

If the clutch doesn't engage, try pressing on the clutch plate (engine off). If that makes it snap in, the gap is too wide. This is easily fixed by removing the shaft nut, slide the clutch plate off, remove some shim washers, and reassemble.

 

Seems as though the clutch isn't engaging (no click). Since I don't have the arms of a 10year old girl I couldn't get at the clutch plate to try your trick mk378. I'm going to try to get it on a hoist and see if I can get at it from the bottom. I don't know how you guys manage to do half the stuff with these cars that you do :P Every time I do anything I run into something that is impossible to get at... it's crazy lol.
Thanks for the tips.

 

Yes it's much easier to reach the compressor from the bottom. If you need to adjust the gap you may need to take the left front wheel off, and/or unbolt the compressor from the engine (but obviously, do NOT disconnect the refrigerant hoses) and lower it down so you can reach the pulley.