1996 Lincoln Town Car air compressor does not engage 84,000 miles

What was your pressure reading?

When I checked for adding 134 using a one time use container the compressor was not operating and the in line gauge that came with the 134 showed 40-45 psi. There is no sign of oil seepage around the 134 connections or the compressor.

ok. Is the compressor clutch engaging at all?

The compressor is not coming on at all, will not function when the air conditioning is selected. This is why I was questioning jumping the electrical connection that goes to the pressure sensor in the low pressure line.

Ok then yes you can bypass the low pressure switch. Have your gauge connected to low side when you do this. When the clutch is engaged watch for proper low pressure reading. Should be between approx 40-55. The gauge should drop when compressor engages then rise when dis-engages.

I have finally done something concerning my Lincoln's air conditioning. Bought a Interdynamics Auto Air Conditioning R-134a Service Kit. (hose with gauge that attaches to the sealed cans of 134. Not starting the car I connected the hose with the gauge to the low pressure line and had no pressure reading on the gauge. Attached a new can of 134 to the hose and punctured the 134 can. Some of the 134 left the can and the guage showed high pressure. With the 134 can almost empty I started the Lincoln. The compressor started to run in spurts. The gauge pressure lowered when the compressor ran in spurts. The first can of 134 became empty. Shut off the Lincoln and attached another can of 134 to my hose. Started the Lincoln and commenced installing the 134. The more 134 that left the can made the compressor run longer spurts. During the installation of the second can, the compressor began to run longer spurts and the 134 can near empty the compressor was running and I shut the Lincoln off. Connected another can of 134 to the hose and started the Lincoln, compressor running all the time now and installed the third can of 134. Air conditioner was blowing cold air, did not measure the temp. Drove the Lincoln to work today and used the air conditioning coming home, 10 mile trip. Worked fine. I am taking it to a garage in the morning and will let them check out the function of the system. The system has to have a leak somewhere for the loss of 134 I experienced. I hope they can discover where it is leaking and it is an easy repair. I believe what I have learned from installing the three cans of 134 is this. A good reading of pressure has to be seen only with the compressor running. I let the readings I took without the compressor running stop me from installing more 134 by thinking it had enough and something else was wrong. Unless the mechanic finds something else wrong tomorrow, my Lincoln's only problem was loss of 134.

update on my 1996 Lincoln Towncar, the garage installed a dye in the air conditioning system and told me to come back in a couple days. I did and the leak dye showed that the 134 was leaking from the compressor, not the front seal, but from where the front piece of compressor bolts to the main body of the compressor. Talked to a mechanic who used to work at the Ford/Lincoln dealership and he had not experienced a Lincoln compressor leaking at the compressor like mine. I am going to try attempt to tighten the compressor assembly bolts at the front and see what I discover.

l have been thru all of the above tests and what not to no avail someone mention the control on the dash and l pulled it out and with magnifine glass and a flashlite started to look at all the solder points on the board they were all shiny except one it was black l got my solder gun out an dropped a drop of rosin core on it and installed it back in my 97 lincoln it fixed the problem unbelieveable

removed mine was having same issue had melted solder around back side of the relay it looks like re soldered works like new