Auto Air Conditioning & Heater Repair: a/c on 2001 ford taurus, clutch plate, air gap

Question
I had  a/c recharged . Air works for a litle while then blows hot air. I look a  clucth and it is not egaged . IF I use something to gently

hit the clucth it egages for a while then hot air . what can be the problem  joe

Answer
Joe,
It's funny you should ask this question. There was another posed to me about a week ago regarding the same thing on a taurus SHO. I did a little research and found that Ford had issued a technical service bulletin regarding this issue.
What is happenig is your air gap between your clutch plate and your pulley itself is sightly off. Your air gap is the distance between these two. As your clutch coil receives voltage a magnetic field develops. This magnetic field draws the clutch plate to the pulley and locks it in until your clutch coil de-energizes. This setting is very finicky. A little bit off will cause it to do exactly what you are describing, and not engaging again until you nudge it with something, closing that gap ever so little. Most vehicles I have worked on are not as dead set about the air gap distance as these taurus compressors seem to be. I usually use the tip width of a number 2 screwdriver to set them.
This is not something that I would recommend doing yourself. I recommend you take it to a reputable shop, or probably even the dealer, being that this seems to be a recurring issue and they have issued a TSB on it. It is a fairly in depth repair and depending on the compressor, may call for a replacement of the compressor itself. Som compressors are not made to have the clutch removed and replaced.
I hope I was of a little help, and wish I could do or tell more, but that is what is happening in your system. If I can help you more in the future, feel free to ask. Thank you for the question.