Hello all,

I have a 95 E300d and the A/C was working great last night, but today I went ahead and cleaned the exterior of the radiator with just tap water at a very light pressure. The engine was cold and it sat out all night, and I haven't had any problems in the past with the AC not working. Anyway, today I removed the fan shroud and the clamps holding the radiator in place in order to get between the radiator and condensor, there was a ton of stuff jammed up at the bottom between the two so I used the hose to gently wash it away, as well as the radiator from back to front lightly (no nozzel, just dribbling water through). I only moved the radiator back an inch or so, didn't touch the condensor at all and I have done this in the past on my 617 with no problems. Went to start the car to check and make sure the fan shroud was placed properly, which it was, and let it idle for a minute while I went to put my hose away and to let the water dry off, jumped in it to take it for a drive and the A/C was now non-functioning, and the outside temp gauge kept dropping to its eventual 48f, when in reality it's about 75f right now.

Any ideas? Do you think I bumped a line somewhere and evacuated all my R134a? I drove it for 20 minutes up hills and still it doesn't work, any help would be great. Thanks

Not likely. I would be looking for an electrical issue. Pressure switch, compressor clutch connector...

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When cryptography is outlawed, bayl bhgynjf jvyy unir cevinpl.

you should have heard a broken line, My bet is you knocked off the pressure sensor leads on your dryer...

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John HAUL AWAY, OR CRUSHED CARS!!! HELP ME keep the cars out of the crusher! A/C Thread
"as I ride with my a/c on... I have fond memories of sweaty oily saturdays and spewing R12 into the air. THANKS for all you do!

My drivers:
1987 190D 2.5Turbo
1987 190D 2.5Turbo
1987 190D 2.5-5SPEED!!!

1987 300TD
1987 300TD
1994GMC 2500 6.5Turbo truck... I had to put the ladder somewhere!

check the compressor speed sensor connector and the belt itself, when I wash my engine the klima unit detects slip at the compressor compared to the engine rpm and shuts down the compressor. It wont work till you turn off the key and start the engine again.

Make sure the belt and connector are dry.

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2012 BMW X5 (Beef + Granite suspension model)

1995 E300D - The original humming machine (consumed by Flood 2017)
2000 E320 - The evolution (consumed by flood 2017)

Thanks, you guys were right again. I knocked off a connector that leads to the dryer, I feel dumb.

Works great again, and now my car runs a little cooler too. I couldn't believe how much stuff was packed in between the radiator and condenser, probably two pounds of grass, dust, bugs, leaves, you name it. Anyway, thanks again for the quick and helpful input.

Why I can't I have luck like that? I'd knock something loose and need a new evaporator, transmission, paint job, and spare tire.

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2009 E320 Bluetec 117,000
1995 E300D 306,000 Sold
1996 Ford Taurus LX 130,000 Sold
1985 300TD Still 225,000 Sold
2016 Ford Fusion 24,900

Oh man, the evap job scares me more than anything I can imagine on this car. I looked at a few shots of the job earlier today, no thanks. This car's A/C has never been serviced and it's at about 170k miles with frequent use (black interior), knock on wood that it will last at least a couple more years this way before I have to tear into something like that. The rest I can handle without much worry, but an evap is something I can go my whole life never having done and be happy. I did an e-brake cable on my w126 a few years ago while simultaneously doing ball joints, guide rods, and oil cooler hoses...not fun.

You should see all the stuff that is packed between the fan and condenser.

Within the past week I have been smelling that "freon" smell whenever I turn on the a/c in my silver 95 E300 with 294k miles. Looks like I'll get the opportunity to change the evap out in this car soon. As a preventive measure I put a new compressor and dryer on it about a year and a half ago.

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Jim

What does it smell like? Mine can be a tad musty smelling when I first fire up the A/C, but my 2002 Toyota does the same thing, it's done it for quite a while now and I haven't thought anything of it though. I'd be happy if mine made it to 294k like yours.

Not sure how to describe it but I smell it slightly whenever I service an a/c system and I connect/disconnect the charge hoses. It may even be the oil and not the freon. I would not really call it a musty smell.

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Jim

Well that's good at least, I did some reading online and some described it as akin to burning ATF mixed with plastic and and computer mother board? I will just keep on trucking and if it stops working I'll know something is up, possibly the evap. I am tempted to put a little UV dye in there to check, it's a little weak at idle, but once you start moving, even in town, it's very cold.