2011 5.0 AC is broken what..

should I check for when I go to the shop Monday besides hooking up the gauges? The compressor will kick on once every 3-4 times I hit the AC switch then shortly after it disengages. Vents blow warm air out? I'm praying it isn't the Evap nightmare but a few days before the AC died I'd get a loud clicking sound under the center part of dash upon first startup (this happened when the AC switch was off so it wasn't the blower motor). It would go away after less than 10 seconds. I know the '11's compressors are crap and quite a few guys on here have had failures... The garage queen Cobra started it's daily driving duties today on bald ET Street's, BUT the AC is nice and cold..

Hopefully its something simple like a debris strike to your condenser.Wet spot is oil leaking from the puncture.

AC kicking off could indicate a low charge. I had diagnosed an ES350 once with a failed pressure sensor that kicked off the compressor. According to the AC amplifier, the car was completely out of refer. Evacuated it and it had a full charge lol. That was a fun one

Mine is a 2011 GT500, but I had an Evap core fail. Luckily I was covered by my extended warranty. If you have a distinct oil smell (not engine oil or trans.. but its distinct) in your cabin, you might have a popped core.

See what your pressures are. 180-220 PSI high side, 20-30 PSI low. Steady needles are ideal. Ok if it cycles on and off. If the needles dont move and its a full charge, compressor is shot (duh lol).

Evacuate and pull a hose off the compressor if you suspect the compressor is dead and look for any aluminum shrapnel in the oil. If there is you 'll need to flush the AC system, REALLY well. Probably want a new expansion valve and desiccant bag in the condenser.

Apologies if you already know this, but hopefully this helps other members too.

The servo motors are known to be kinda bad on these cars. Ford has the servos perform an initial sweep on every engine startup. Clicking means they have failed or are going to fail.

Got an appointment for my wife’s 12 Escape Wednesday her AC just went out. Hoping it’s something cheap fingers crossed. Only thing left on the certified pre-owned warranty is the power train. So taking it to my local mechanic.

Side note my old 01 Cobra I sold in 2013 had one of the best AC’s in any car I’ve ever had.


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For reference neither of my cobras had A/C @BlksvtCobra01 lolololol

Zemedici said:

For reference neither of my cobras had A/C @BlksvtCobra01 lolololol

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Damn really? My 04 has it, it’s cold don’t use it much but swear the 01 had a ice cold one.
You had that 60-140 AC lol.


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BlksvtCobra01 said:

Damn really? My 04 has it, it’s cold don’t use it much but swear the 01 had a ice cold one.
You had that 60-140 AC lol.


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Click to expand...

Exactly right hahaha who needs A/C when i got ass to drag

lexustech48 said:

Hopefully its something simple like a debris strike to your condenser.Wet spot is oil leaking from the puncture.


Mine is a 2011 GT500, but I had an Evap core fail. Luckily I was covered by my extended warranty. If you have a distinct oil smell (not engine oil or trans.. but its distinct) in your cabin, you might have a popped core.

See what your pressures are. 180-220 PSI high side, 20-30 PSI low. Steady needles are ideal. Ok if it cycles on and off. If the needles dont move and its a full charge, compressor is shot (duh lol).

Evacuate and pull a hose off the compressor if you suspect the compressor is dead and look for any aluminum shrapnel in the oil. If there is you 'll need to flush the AC system, REALLY well. Probably want a new expansion valve and desiccant bag in the condenser.

Apologies if you already know this, but hopefully this helps other members too.

The servo motors are known to be kinda bad on these cars. Ford has the servos perform an initial sweep on every engine startup. Clicking means they have failed or are going to fail.

Click to expand...

Thanks for the advice. no oil smell at all inside cabin. Can you go into more detail about the servo motors. As mentioned I have that clicking sound upon startup that goes away after a few seconds. What happens when it fails?

Usually its one of the teeth on the gear drives or the movement arms breaks and causes noise when it jumps. The one that failed on mine controlled vent position so I never had the footwell vents work till it was replaced.

Zemedici said:

For reference neither of my cobras had A/C @BlksvtCobra01 lolololol

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AND Georgia is pretty Damm hot in the summer.. Mine just sits in the garage til the end of Oct.

lexustech48 said:

Usually its one of the teeth on the gear drives or the movement arms breaks and causes noise when it jumps. The one that failed on mine controlled vent position so I never had the footwell vents work till it was replaced.

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Do any of them actually control the coldness with the computer or is it just for the different AC vents? Sorry if I sound stupid but car AC isn't my bag at all.. Oh yeah one other thing will it make the clicking noise upon startup even if the AC is off?

They do initialize on startup if AC is off. Its completely possible that the air temp mix servo has failed.

Start your car cold, turn your AC to max cool and look for two things:

Cooling fan should kick on immediately at low speed.

AC compressor should kick on (obviously). Its normal for it to run a bit, then cycle off, then start up. Its a run logic to prevent the expansion valve from icing over.

Also since youre in Florida if you run the car for a while parked, you should see a puddle of water under the car.

If all this happens, your AC system is running fine, but the air temp mix is stuck in whatever temp position if failed in.

lexustech48 said:

They do initialize on startup if AC is off. Its completely possible that the air temp mix servo has failed.

Start your car cold, turn your AC to max cool and look for two things:

Cooling fan should kick on immediately at low speed.

AC compressor should kick on (obviously). Its normal for it to run a bit, then cycle off, then start up. Its a run logic to prevent the expansion valve from icing over.

Also since youre in Florida if you run the car for a while parked, you should see a puddle of water under the car.

If all this happens, your AC system is running fine, but the air temp mix is stuck in whatever temp position if failed in.

Click to expand...

Yes the fan turns right on when I hit MAX AC upon startup but the vents blow just warm air it doesn't get cold then turn warm... AND the air temp mix servo? do you have to remove the dash etc.. to replace that?

Dash no, glove box yes and you should be able to see them on the passenger side of the evap box. There might be one on the drivers side. have a helper cycle the key on, engine off. see if you can put a hand on the servos and you should feel the failed one clicking.

lexustech48 said:

Dash no, glove box yes and you should be able to see them on the passenger side of the evap box. There might be one on the drivers side. have a helper cycle the key on, engine off. see if you can put a hand on the servos and you should feel the failed one clicking.

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Cool thanks, Yes I watched a couple You Tube videos today, you can access them by removing the glovebox. I'm heading to the shop tomorrow to investigate. Do you think if this servo failed it would trigger the ECU to not allow the compressor to turn on/stay on?

Probably not, but if it did, Id like to think Ford would have added a failure indicator, ike the AC on indicator flashing.

I own a 11 that I bought in 14 winter and didn't realize my AC wasn't working (defrost uses AC but heat also dries a windshield). I had a leaking line that I was able to fix with JB weld, until recently.

My AC compressor clutch blew out, and the pulley on it was seizing up as well. I bought a new AC compressor for $155~, new condenser for $50 and the line coming off the compressor (the JB welded one in my case) for $26 and 2 cans of 134A for $10. All in all about $240 to do this job myself and now I have nice cold AC. I also noticed a nice bump in lower end response since the pulley isn't seizing up.

Not quite sure if this is your problem, but it isn't a hard process to replace a compressor if you have to.

lexustech48 said:

Probably not, but if it did, Id like to think Ford would have added a failure indicator, ike the AC on indicator flashing.

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Well it wasn't the servo actuators, my compressor is toast.
100+ psi on the low side.. Should I just replace the condenser too while the refrigerant is evacuated?

xartic said:

I own a 11 that I bought in 14 winter and didn't realize my AC wasn't working (defrost uses AC but heat also dries a windshield). I had a leaking line that I was able to fix with JB weld, until recently.

My AC compressor clutch blew out, and the pulley on it was seizing up as well. I bought a new AC compressor for $155~, new condenser for $50 and the line coming off the compressor (the JB welded one in my case) for $26 and 2 cans of 134A for $10. All in all about $240 to do this job myself and now I have nice cold AC. I also noticed a nice bump in lower end response since the pulley isn't seizing up.

Not quite sure if this is your problem, but it isn't a hard process to replace a compressor if you have to.

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Well it actually is the compressor so thanks for the info. Did you vacuum the system before recharged? What vendor did you purchase the parts from?

Brutal Metal said:

Well it actually is the compressor so thanks for the info. Did you vacuum the system before recharged? What vendor did you purchase the parts from?

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My lines were empty from the small leak I had so I just used some towels, ziplocs and some zipties to prevent any further leakage after I disconnected the lines.

As for the vendor, I went with PitStopAuto and ordered part #1010383 for $158. It states you need to the component kit ($238 with compressor) for the warranty that I opted out for. I literally did the minimal amount of work to get AC blowing cold again and it works like a champ. It does come with the PAG oil that you will need as well.

Brutal Metal said:

Well it wasn't the servo actuators, my compressor is toast.
100+ psi on the low side.. Should I just replace the condenser too while the refrigerant is evacuated?

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Unless you see obvious leaking, I wouldn't just for the hell of it. When youre vacuuming down the system after compressor replacement, hold the system in vacuum with the pump off and check to see if you lose any.

Now that you know your compressor is shot, make damn sure there isn't any aluminum shrapnel in the oil. If it is, youll need to flush it all out.

Sucks man, but at least it seem slike there is a good replacement option!