HJ61 Air Conditioning Short Circuit

[cruisingjapan195]

1987 HJ61 A/C is not working, and suspect a short circuit somewhere.

I recharged the refrigerant, A/C worked like a champ, so suspected low pressure switch was cutting off the compressor.

3 minutes later, A/C compressor kicked off again (fan still blowing) and I checked the fuse and it was blown. Replaced fuse, and it blew in 10 seconds.

For ~experimental purposes~ tossed in a higher fuse (15A) to see if it would run at all, and it blows immediately.

It seems there is a short circuit but I have no idea how to diagnose that beyond randomly poking things with a multimeter. Any advice is appreciated - my access to qualified mechanics where I live is very limited so stuck troubleshooting largely alone.

 

[duncanrm]

If you're confident its not a low gas (again) fault then I would directly drive the compressor with a fused piece of wire - this will localise the fault to the compressor itself or the circuitry involving the A/C Amplifier.

 

[sved]

Yes, AC amplifier circuit or the compressor itself. If the AC is OEM you can also check the VSV ( Idle up valve ) by just disconnecting the connector.