R32 RB25de A/C help

[damesta]

Hey guys, so I'm starting to dig into my a/c problems on my r32 gts25. I am almost certain the system is empty and the compressor may or may not be good. I have ordered a new seal kit, fittings, expansion valve and drier to start converting it to r124a and fix whatever problems it has at the same time.

So first things first, someone did some slight wiring modifications at some point and added this relay to engage the clutch. I'm not sure if this is just replacing a factory relay with a generic one, of if they actually added this relay to the circuit. But this is very much not factory wiring. They have the 12v power coming straight from the battery with an inline fuse and the signal wire to close the circuit and send power to the clutch is coming from the loom (a small blue/red stripe wire). The clutch will not engage when the A/C is on right now and I get no voltage reading on the blue/red stripe wire, however, this may be because there is no pressure in the system and the pressure switch is not sending a signal to it...but if I put 12v to the signal post on the relay then I can manually get the clutch to engage.

So what should I do with this relay, completely remove it and return it to stock or use it as is? I know that the blue/red stripe wire originally went straight to the ac clutch single wire plug...so I’m not really sure what the point of installing this relay was to begin with. It does not allow the clutch to be manually engaged or anything like that, it still signals from the original wire and I cannot find any other modifications to the A/C wiring.

 

Edited May 23, 2021 by damesta

[GTSBoy]

Is it climate control? If so, did you realise that there is a full diagnostics suite available through the control panel? See the R32 GTR manual.

[damesta]

24 minutes ago, GTSBoy said:

Is it climate control? If so, did you realise that there is a full diagnostics suite available through the control panel? See the R32 GTR manual.

Yeah, I already ran through the diagnostics on the climate control, everything checks out ok, sensors and everything all work. But that diagnostic system doesn’t test the clutch, compressor or signal to it as far as I know. I’m really not trying to get it working right now, at this point I’m just trying to make sure it is wired correctly so I can start the r134 conversion. 

[GTSBoy]

Pressure switch is healthy, right?

[damesta]

6 hours ago, GTSBoy said:

Pressure switch is healthy, right?

As far as I know it is good, however, the new drier I will be installing comes with a new pressure switch so it will be replaced, that is the only pressure switch correct? Or are there 2 of them?

What I'm really trying to figure out right now is why this relay was wired into the A/C clutch circuit. Does anyone have the actual a/c wiring diagram for an r32? All I can find is the eccs diagram which shows basic routing but it does not show the full a/c wiring details on it.

Edited May 24, 2021 by damesta

[GTSBoy]

14 minutes ago, damesta said:

that is the only pressure switch correct?

Well, yeah. I was hoping that it would be telling you whether there was enough gas in it or not. Tried it with it plugged in and unplugged?

15 minutes ago, damesta said:

Does anyone have the actual a/c wiring diagram for an r32?

Yeah, thee R32 GTR manual has everything you need.

[damesta]

9 minutes ago, GTSBoy said:

Well, yeah. I was hoping that it would be telling you whether there was enough gas in it or not. Tried it with it plugged in and unplugged?

Yeah, thee R32 GTR manual has everything you need.

I haven't tried it unplugged, should the clutch engage if its unplugged?

And I completely missed that in the r32 gtr manual, I was thinking it was just the engine section until I looked again. Thanks

[GTSBoy]

1 hour ago, damesta said:

should the clutch engage if its unplugged?

I don't think so. But discovering unexpected behaviours exhibited can be just as illuminating as when things do what you expect.

[damesta]

2 hours ago, GTSBoy said:

I don't think so. But discovering unexpected behaviours exhibited can be just as illuminating as when things do what you expect.

True, just checked, makes no difference when its unplugged. I guess just I need to do the conversion and charge the system, I'm going to go through all of the testing in the manual but I'm not sure if there is a way to directly test the clutch engagement signal unless the system is pressurized and the pressure switch is working...so kind of hard to determine what the point of that extra relay was.

Edited May 24, 2021 by damesta

[GTSBoy]

17 hours ago, damesta said:

what the point of that extra relay was

More than likely something in the system stopped working and that was someone's hack workaround. Probably not a good sign.

[damesta]

2 hours ago, GTSBoy said:

More than likely something in the system stopped working and that was someone's hack workaround. Probably not a good sign.

I'm sure it was an attempt to work around the stock a/c relay but it makes no sense because it is triggered from a signal that is coming directly from that relay....so if the stock relay didn't work this one wouldn't either. But anyway....I pulled it out and have been through all of the testing of the circuit per the fsm and everything checks out fine, there is nothing wrong with the wiring/signals or any of the a/c electrical stuff. However, my assumption that the system was empty was correct, so I can't fully test it until the rest of my parts get here and the conversion/recharge is done. The only reason I can think of for someone to do this is if the clutch wouldn't engage because of low pressure and someone assumed the relay wasn't working and tried to add another one.