Yesterday my A/C would not turn on. Didn't need it too bad anyway, the air was nice and fresh and a bit cool in Indiana. But here is my question. On occasion, my A/C will not turn on. It is an 85 W123 Turbo with the automatic system which normally works very well. But on occasion, it will not operate - it is then totally dead, no air, no blower, nothing. At the same time when that happens my vacuum goes funky also. Transmission does some bad shifts, and car does shut down, but shut down is slow. Then this AM, (yes, Indiana School Bus drivers are back to hauling those kids to school), it worked perfectly and the shifting and shutdown were perfect also. When the A/C is working, it is very good except that I get two much air through the defrosters. I am reading that current long thread on vacuum which might give me better clues. It sure is a wonderfully interesting and great driving little car. I do love it!

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Junqueyardjim
Christianity, if false, is of no importance, and if true, of infinite importance. The only thing it cannot be is moderately important. C.S. Lewis



1983 Mercedes W123 240D 4 Speed 285,000 on the road with a 617 turbo, beautiful butter yellow, license plate # 83 240D INDIANA

2003 Jaguar Type X, AWD. beautiful, good mileage,
Mom's car, but I won't let her drive it!

Might consider the climate control module in the dash board. Mine had the same symptoms just before the module died. Apparently over time, the heat-sink of the "circuit board" (actually a solder-board) gets too hot and starts doing weird things to operation of the heat/AC operation. Mine eventually just fried! ... literally melted the heat-sink and associated solder connections on the board. I replaced the control module and have not had a problem since (about four years). I think I paid about $40 for the replacement at a local salvage yard.

Does this happen after a start-up or while driving?

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Good question! Mine operated fine when first started and the control was still cool. After operating/driving for a few hours it started demonstrating the symptoms you note. When the symptoms occured, I could turn it off for awhile and then turn it back on and have it work fine until it got hot again. Like I said, it eventually just "cooked".

Another possibility, try wiggling the key when the system cuts out. I had similar AC/blower symptoms due to a bad ignition switch (just the electrical part needed to be replaced). If the vacuum system is also acting up, you may have something else going on.

I think mine seems to shut down after I drive the five miles to school and then let it sit in the hot sun for 2 hours. It doesn't happen often, but I do see a bit of a pattern. But why would the vacuum change because the A/C controller is on the blink?

__________________
Junqueyardjim
Christianity, if false, is of no importance, and if true, of infinite importance. The only thing it cannot be is moderately important. C.S. Lewis



1983 Mercedes W123 240D 4 Speed 285,000 on the road with a 617 turbo, beautiful butter yellow, license plate # 83 240D INDIANA

2003 Jaguar Type X, AWD. beautiful, good mileage,
Mom's car, but I won't let her drive it!

That's another reason I would suspect the ignition switch.

Good call, Craig.