1997 Cobra AC clutch does not disengage

Hey fellow stang owners, new to the board so want to say a quick thanks for any help. Got a new to me 1997 Cobra and drove it a few times and noticed the air coming out was not cold at all. Not warm but not cold either. So tonight since my dad was over at the house I decided to have him help me. We noticed that the AC clutch stays engaged no matter what. I can have all AC off and it stays engaged or I can have it to highest setting. We are hoping to check line pressures sometime this week, but I had one of those cheap cans that has a built in pressure gauge on it and it just went to red where it says to read directions everytime and wouldn’t change for anything. I replaced the CCRM and I have a AC compressor, but don’t really want to waste the time changing it out if it might be an easier fix. Thanks again for any help!

Mustang5L5 said:

Unplug the compressor. It should be disengaged then. If not, points to a clutch failure and not an electrical issue.

I wouldn't bother checking AC pressures until you solve the compressor clutch issue. Once that's fixed, you can check pressures. Use a proper manifold guage set that measures high and low side. Record ambient temp/humidity as well.

In general, you want high side pressure to be around 2 to 2.5 times ambient temp. Low side should fall in the 25-40psi range but that will depend on temp. The cooler it is, the lower your pressures will be. When the system is off, the pressures should equalize and settle at a temp pretty close to ambient temp.

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Thank you, I am getting a proper set of manifold gauges so hope those can help me with it all