Hi all,

Got a bit of a quandary with our 500x. I noticed that the AC wasn't really blowing cold air out, so thought it needed a regas as it hadn't been done in the 18months of ownership of the car. Got a guy round to regas and basically found out that the AC pump wasn't kicking in.

He checked and there was power going to the pump, he could see the signal also going to the pump and on his Bosch ODB reader, could see the load on the AC and voltages, but the pump was still not kicking in. After he left I tried with the multiecuscan and could see similar to what the guy saw. I even tried the actuators and this still didn't do anything. If I hit the AC button, I could see in the software that the request for the AC was being set to on, AC going to on, then both to off.

There is pressure in the system of about 7bar, so highly doubtful I have a leak and no gas.

I checked the fuses in the engine bay and these were both fine and tested for continunity with my multi-meter. I didn't check the fuses in the dashboard, as it was getting dark and needs a bit more of the car being pulled apart to get to them.

At this point I got the grump as if it needs a new pump, then it's going to be a reasonably expensive job, but wanted to post to see if anyone had similar issues and they managed to resolve it, or if there is something else to try? Like smacking the pulley with a hammer?

Any tips is appreciated.

If the power is genuinely getting to the compressor then the only logical diagnosis would be a failed compressor clutch.

Personally I might be inclined to put 12v directly to the compressor to make sure it’s definitely the problem.

You can in many cases replace the components of the compressor clutch, but to be 100% honest it would be a really rare and unusual failure.

If power getting to the clutch directly did spring it into life then it would raise doubts about the other diagnostics that have been done.

I would also try turning the compressor shaft by hand to make sure it’s not seized solid before doing these tests.

Thanks for the reply and suggestions Andy.

He did use a power probe and something to tap into the wires to trigger 12v to them and it didn't do anything. Trouble with where the AC pump is, it is a bugger to get to the connectors :bang: But it's something for me to try.

Hadn't thought about turning it by hand and thankfully that is something a bit easier to do and check on.

As you say, failure is pretty rare and seems there is much when searching on air con pumps and Fiat's

Just to add, that I could turn the pulley by hand, so it isn't seized, so having a feeling it would either be the switch to engage the clutch of the clutch has failed, but trying to find spare parts for it looks to be nill

Found a couple of videos on how to replace it (for generic pumps) and it looks fairly achievable