"Eisboch" wrote:
"F.O.A.D." wrote in message ...


Ducati produces beautifully made motorcycles that are super fast, handle
well, and are reliable. I've had Honda and Kawasaki motorcycles and have
found their reliability no different than "The Duc."

---------------------------------

I think the reliability of all modern vehicles .... cars, trucks,
motorcycles and even boats .... are vastly improved over the ones
produced 20 or 30 years ago. Only problem is, they have become so
complex that they can't usually be worked on by us "shade tree mechanics" of yesterday.

I just bought a 2002 Saturn for a local "kick around" car. It's about
as basic as you can get but the price was right and it's in amazingly good condition.
Looks new ... even the interior is spotless.

But, the AC didn't work. Popping the hood I noticed that the clutch on
the AC compressor wasn't pulling in. I had a old Pontiac LeMans
(probably a '65 or thereabouts) years ago in Puerto Rico that had the
same problem. Something was messed up in the controls that engaged the
clutch. I simply hotwired a fused and switched wire from the battery to
the clutch connector and it worked fine, except I had to remember to
cycle it on and off. Not so on the Saturn.

Now they have a pressure transducer that senses both the high and low
pressure sides of the AC system. If either are out of spec, it doesn't
allow the clutch to pull in. Ok. So, I figured maybe it needed a
charge and headed off to Auto Zone and bought one of those DIY charging
kits. Sure enough, the low pressure side was low when measured with the
included gauge. I carefully and faithfully followed the directions on
how to charge it. But it didn't make sense because the clutch wouldn't
engage. Tried it several times getting the low side up to the specified
pressure reading without success. So, out comes the multimeter and I
started checking all the voltage points. Everything is fine, except no
power to the clutch. I was about to give up and do the "hot wire" thing
to see if the clutch worked at all but decided to Google the wiring
schematics for the Saturn's AC system. Turns out there's a diode in the
fuse box that is supposed to protect the AC fuse from spikes in the line
when the clutch disengages. Checked it in forward and reversed biased
positions and it was shorted. Back to AutoZone and got a new diode,
thinking I had found the problem. Still didn't work, so I decided to
give the recharge one more try. This time I ignored the warnings about
overcharging and brought the pressure up above above the specified level.
That did it. The clutch suddenly engaged and the tank of R134A started
getting cold, meaning the AC system was drawing the refrigerant out of
the tank and the low side pressure dropped to within the specified range.

Within 5 minutes the car vents were blowing nice, ice cold air and I felt
pretty proud of myself. Rechecked the new diode and it's fine, so
hopefully it will keep working.

You are waywayway beyond my car mechanic abilities... 😄