AC Compressor Clutch Wiring Bypass
 

My AC wasn't turning on yesterday and through some diagnostics I found out there is a potential break in the wiring going from the female harness to the magnetic clutch.

The male end was delivering +12V when the AC switch was on but there was no voltage at the Compressor Clutch wire (the visible part of right by the pully). I jumped the Compressor Clutch straight to the battery and the AC worked. I then jumped the Compressor Clutch straight to the male end of the harness and the AC worked as it should when the AC switch was turned on and off.

Is it okay if I permanently jump the wires like this? I can't tell if there are any other connections after the femail side of the harness or if it goes straight to the Compressor Clutch. It's kind of intertwined with the AC Compressor housing in some weird way.

Seems like you would burn up the AC pump with it engaged all the time.

It wouldn't be engaged all the time. It still would have to wait for the +12V signal from the ecu/relay to turn on. There's a break in the wire between the female side of the harness and the magnetic clutch. That's why I would like to bypass the harness.

I wiggled some stuff around and it started working, stopped working for day, then started working again for the past few days. Seems to be okay for now but if it cuts out again I may have to attempt the bypass.

If all you are doing is putting a parallel path to bypass the broken wire you should be fine. Also, check the connector itself, corrosion can cause an intermittent connection. Also, it can increase the resistance between the contacts which increases power drop across the contacts that could lead to potential heat and possible fire.

Thanks. It seems to have wiggled itself into a working position for the time being. I also checked the freon levels and it's fine.

If it acts up again I'll do something (of course it'll probably be during a 1000 mile road trip).

It sounds like a bad contact.