Need help ASAP! My A/C is not working, and I have my whole dashboard apart!

Capt. Shockwave

Founding Member
Feb 18, 2002
1,201
0
36
San Diego
This started 3 days ago. My Fan will work, and all my controls work, however No air, neither hot nor cold, will come out the 4 main vents, however air comes out the far left and right vents, and the big vent underneath the front window. But there is absolutely zero air coming out of the 4 main vents (above CD player, passenger side, driver side). I looked for vacuum leaks, and cant find anything. I took the whole center section of my dash out, hoping for a disconnection behind the controls, but no luck, what could be wrong?
 
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whoa!! man, that problem is under your hood.....put your dash back together. find the line im pointing out in the 2 pics below and follow them from the drivers side to the passenger side firewall. ill gaurantee that line is either cracked or has come loose.

acvacuumleak1.jpg

acvacuumleak2.jpg
 
still cant find the problem. Heller Ford said it would be $600 to have it diagnosed and fixed. Ive also been told that a simple Vacuum hose could be loose. Its getting deep into winter, and I could really use my heater. Does anyone have any more suggestions?
 
the problem is definitely a vacuum leak. when there is a lack of vacuum, the a/c will default to the defroster automatically no matter what the heat setting or the power. that vacuum line is the most common part of the system to develop a problem. the line starts at the vacuum tree on the firewall on the drivers side by the fender and goes all the way across to the passenger side where it goes into the passenger compartment right near where your heater hoses are. check that line thoroughly because there is a 90% possibility that your problem is right there. every person that i have had ask me about the very same problem you are having had a leak in that line. ford wanting $600 to replace a vacuum line is just inexcusable.
 
In the engine bay, I havent found anything. I cant even hear a whistling or anything where a hose might be disconnected. ****, I dont even know where exactly to look. There are a few hoses that are actually throttle cables, then there is a hose that runs into the underneath of the upper intake manifold. there is also two hoses that run into a T-splice in front of the passenger compartment, and those hoses look old, but if they were leaking, I would be able to hear it, right? So, as it stands, the only air coming out of my car inside, is the front window defroster. This is sooo frustrating, ****
 
if you look at my pictures above, the correct line is really easy to find. in the top picture, you can see the line being held and in the bottom picture you can see what the line looks like when it is connected. that line goes all the way to the passenger side of the car where it goes into the passenger compartment behind the glove box. the vacuum leak is nothing that you are going to hear either. you just need to look for physical cracks or breaks in the line.
 
Wierd....
I really got fed up with no A/C or Heat in my car so I dove into the engine bay. After 30 minutes of looking, I found a Vaccum hose that was disconnected, and it also had a small suction to it. I found where it had become disconnected from and pulled out the other end of the hose from the splice, and ran the hose into the splice to connect it again. I thought for sure I would have A/C! nope. I get in the car, and still NOTHING coming from my panel vents. HOWEVER, NOW my Floor Vent is working so I can get heat to a certain degree. Im soo frustrated with my POS car...
 
YEAH BABY!! Thanks Green 94 5.0, Just last weekend my Defroster was the only thing that was working. I just read this thread, ran out and checked the hose (from the pic)and it was broke right at the boot!

Thanks!!
 
ROGER IS THE MAN!!! when it comes to this problem :hail2: I called him on the phone one day, told him the problem...he walked me through and in 2 minutes..bam there there it was. Put some elect tape on it and it worked. Thing worked fine for another week till I got around to getting the connector.

THANKS Roger...You can have now have an appetizer with your lunch next week!!! :banana:
RC