My patrol car is tooooooo hot......

[Pat]

Help! My CV (06) patrol car's AC went on the fritz this afternoon. The fan is blowing but there is little air coming from the vents. What little there is can be classed as cold. The shop tech looked at the switch assembly that houses the rheostat for the cold/hot control, fan speed and function switch.

He didn't replace anything, just looked and poked around under the dash. Told me to leave it at the shop.

I want to get my car back soon or it's foot patrol time.

Any thoughts on what to do?

[Taemian]

Help! My CV (06) patrol car's AC went on the fritz this afternoon. The fan is blowing but there is little air coming from the vents. What little there is can be classed as cold. The shop tech looked at the switch assembly that houses the rheostat for the cold/hot control, fan speed and function switch.

He didn't replace anything, just looked and poked around under the dash. Told me to leave it at the shop.

I want to get my car back soon or it's foot patrol time.

Any thoughts on what to do?

Sounds like the fan speed switch is toast. I think I remember it's a 3 rotary gauge panel, right? Toss in a different one from your fleet's boneyard, should take under 10 minutes and give you a very conclusive answer.

I'm assuming that he made sure that a vacuum line isn't cracked/broken, and that the temp control door isn't just stuck.

Also, the fan control module in the engine comp (behind valve cover) is notorious for problems. Tap it FTW...maybe!

[Aren Jay]

A cooler full of ice and cold packs can make the worst day very nice.

if that isn't an option.

Then there is a seat cushion that pugs into the lighter socket that has an AC system built in.

these only work if you can't fix your AC.

[Pat]

Sounds like the fan speed switch is toast. I think I remember it's a 3 rotary gauge panel, right? Toss in a different one from your fleet's boneyard, should take under 10 minutes and give you a very conclusive answer.

I'm assuming that he made sure that a vacuum line isn't cracked/broken, and that the temp control door isn't just stuck.

I think that's what he was doing under the dash. I'll pass on your recommendation, we are in the process of changing our fleet to 08 models so there's a yard full of "serviceable" 04-05's available for parts swap.

Thanks,

Regards,

[Taemian]

Hey, there's always the "CoolCop" device to capture what little cold air there is, if you can take the ribbing from your crew.

[Hacklemerc]

Thats sucks. I know the feeling of sweltering away in a hot patrol car. My AC in my 05 Vic is either all on or all off. So you either freeze or roast.

[larryo340]

Does the fan sound strong?? What setting did you try it on, normal or max?

If you only used max I can't speak for the '06 but the older panthers sometimes would have paper fall over the glove box and block the recirc vent behind it. You can tell is this is the case by just putting the a/c on normal and if the fan gets stronger the next step is to just empty the glove box and pull it foward by releasing the side stops.

[RoyLPita]

Either the blower motor resistor, motor or switch went south.

Keep us posted.

[hwy73]

^ What larryo340 said. The guys would keep a stack of the folded style paper towels in the glovebox and if there were too many the top one would fall out behind the glovebox and get sucked against the recirculating duct. Little to no airflow on MAX-AC, but would work ok on "Normal". Saved a trip to the shop for several cruisers by checking this first.

[Pat]

Thanks for the info guys, going to work tomorrow AM, will check the glove box, yes it's full of "papers". The decreased airflow is both with normal and max AC settings.

Recycling function switch is no help. The fan motor does respond to settings but airflow remains the same, very low.

Going to be another mid 90 degree day with humidity to boot.

[Badger]

Broken vacum motor or vacum line for the directional vent. If you have the different fan speeds it's not the fan speed control.

[Marauderjack]

Unplug the fan motor and jumper directly to your battery....makes no difference of the polarity as it will run both directions (DC)....caution!!......If it is OK it will run wide open and cause you to jump a little:eek:.....if it is bad (doubtful) it will not run or run very slowly!!:shake:

If the motor checks OK you will need a new blower control module (very likely)!!:help:

Attached is a photo....it lives in the plenum behind the passenger's side cam cover....A PITA to get to but not impossible and it is fairly inexpensive!!!:beer:

Good Luck!!

Marauderjack:burnout:

[Badger]

The fan is blowing but there is little air coming from the vents
When my fan speed control went it failed to high speed. But through it all there was air coming out even when I turned the fan to the off position. He's getting air but it seems like it's not being directed to the right location. He states that it's cold so I don't think it's the blending door. That leaves the directional flapper which directs the airflow to the various locations like dashboard, defrost, floor etc. But even if the directional door was broken the car would still cool down because the air would still be moving through the condensor, getting cold and cooling down the interior.
Maybe there is something blocking the cabin air intake under the cowl.
Does Max AC work? In max mode the air (as stated in earlier posts) is recirculated and not drawn in from the outside. If it works in max mode then you may have an obstruction on the cabin air intake side.

[MarauderVOL]

At least your still using Crown Vics my dept. decided to swith to V6 IMPALAS in 04. I miss my old Crown Vic.

[Pat]

Hi Ho all;

The mech didn't take no time at all to fix the AC problem once he had the car in the shop. Turned out to be a loose electrical connection behind the dash. This was prolly a problem long before I got the car.

The shop does a lot of work behind the dash when they install the police conversion kit, I'm thinking that's when the connector was disengaged and not fully engaged after the kit installation.

Anyway, I'm riding again in cool air. Thanks for all your input will be helpful if my MM or GM develops a similiar problem.

Regards,