'93 S13 with '98 S14 KA 2 problems

[Rogue240sx]

This car had a s14 engine swapped in by the previous owner and I have 2 issues that have been bugging the shit out of me.

1. My water Temp gauge doesn't work. I've replaced both sending units niether of which fixed it. It seems like the gauge isn't getting signal (I tested it with a DVOM). Is the wiring different from s13 to s14 for the temp gauge? anyone got a diagram?

2. My A/C refuses to work. the A/C button doesn't even light up when pressed. I know there is a difference between the 2 models but I couldn't find exact answers. Instructions or even a few diagrams would be nice. It'd be great to have a car that finally has working A/C for once.

Thanks guys.

[aznpoopy]

i heard the a/c button will refuse to light up if there's no refrigerant in the system. have you tried recharging it?

[g6civcx]

i heard the a/c button will refuse to light up if there's no refrigerant in the system. have you tried recharging it?

On the SOHC body the A/C button will light up if there is power going to the control unit. I don't have any A/C component and the button still lights up.

[Rogue240sx]

The previous owner said it wasn't connected. I assume thisis because of the difference between the 2 cars

[aznpoopy]

interesting... never worked on a sohc 240sx before so i dunno.

rogue: first things first... check that the harness on the a/c unit is connected and the lines are connected. you may want to check the a/c oil level as well. although i don't know how to check that... haha. break out the FSM.

[g6civcx]

Yes, it was misleading because the button would light up, but since there's no hardware, nothing happens. I removed the ac output wire from the control unit and the button no longer lights up.

[Rogue240sx]

where are the wires supposed to go on the compressor? I can't see any wires going to this thing just lines. Anyone have some pics?

[aznpoopy]

this is where having a FSM is extremely handy.

http://i10.photobucket.com/albums/a104/kirinpoopy/compressor.jpg

[Rogue240sx]

That's incredibly useful thanks, although I don't think that wire is there.... I'll check in the morning when I have light.

[Rogue240sx]

Ok, the wire is there and is connected. I've tried putting 12v to the normally open terminal of the relay socket and nothing happened. How possible is it that the field coil is bad? Is the low refrigerant safety before the relay or after it? I don't want to waste money charging the A/C system if I'm going to have to take the compressor off the car. the clutch should have engaged when I pulsed that terminal correct?

[dopeassjackson]

see that plug going to your AC compressor? take some jumper leads and energize the coil and if you hear it engage then your coil should be good.

[Rogue240sx]

well the compressor clutch does work so I guess I'll just proceed with filling the system and hope that nothing is wrong with any of the other components.

As for the Temp gauge I've given up on trying to find the wiring problem and am going to just run a wire direct from sensor to the gauge and see if that works.