Chrysler Repair: 02 Town & Country A/C pressure transducer, pressure transducer, compressor clutch


Question
I have a 02 Town and Country 3.8L. The high side A/C line blew off of the compressor.I replaced the broken stud, o-ring, and gasket. Put a vacuum on the system and filled it with freon. I got approx. 50 lbs of pressure in the system but the AC compressor will not kick on. I used a test light and do not have voltage going to the compressor clutch. I was looking to replace the low side pressure switch, but cannot find it. The only one i can find is on the receiver / dryer, which I belive is the high side. Is there a low pressure switch, if so where is it? Could the high pressure switch cause the A/C system to not turn on? And maybe if this is faulty would it cause the pressure to build up so much that it would blow the high side line off the compressor?
Thank you for your help,
Dan  

Answer
Hi Dan,
According to the '02 manual there is a single transducer, located on the high side, and it will only allow the clutch to close if it reads 0.451 to 4.519V, so it covers both the low and high region.  That is measured between pins 1 and 3. Pin 2 is the 5V supply to operate the sensor. I am not expert enough in AC to explain what might have failed earlier. It appears to me though that 50 psi is in the area of too low a pressure to satisfy the requirements to activate the clutch so you may have to add more refrigerant. If you don't have a manual I can copy some pages from the '04 manual that I have on a CD that describes the charging procedure. Use a 'private' follow-up to give me your email address, as if you don't use the 'private' it will be deleted automatically from the message. While the site knows your address the 'expert' is not shown it.
Roland
PS Sorry for the delay but I just found your question in the 'pool'.

Hi Dan,
Thanks for the update. I will be interested to learn if it is just a matter of charge level. If you would be so kind as to 'rate' my answer that would be appreciated. I am in competition to be 'volunteer of the month'
Roland