'03 Jetta a/c quit after battery died - HELP, it's hot in TX!
 

Battery was dead last week so we jumped it & I drove to work (less than 2 miles). Needed to be jumped to get home & again the next day (at this point, the a/c was still working). That night I went home & mildly cleaned off all the corrosion from the battery post & noticed that the radiator (left side facing the car) was still running after the car had been shut off for about 45 minutes, so I believed that’s what was causing the car to go dead. I pulled the fuse (30 amp fuse on top of battery) & it turned off. Next morning, car started w/out needed to be jumped, radiator was turning on/off like it should but the a/c wasn't kicking on. Last night I thought I’d disconnect the battery to reset the computer (wishful thinking). After about an hour, plugged it back up & the car was completely dead, needed to be jumped. Drove it around for an hour to get juice back in the battery & no troubles cept for the A/C not working. Got home, turned car off & went to unlock the doors & all the lights dimmed & flickered & the clock reset to 12:00. So that drained the battery AGAIN. Following morning, dang thing wouldn’t even jump. Took my battery out, had it tested & it was a good. The positive post however has a hair line crack in it & the heat is making the water evaporate out of that crack & causing corrosion on that post & on the wire attached to that post that goes to my fuse box. Cleaned the battery posts, filled w/ water, replaced the battery terminals & wire to fuse box. Car started right up, no problems, but still no a/c!

The inside blower works when I turn on the a/c, but not cooling. When I turn on the a/c the clutch isn't kicking on.

Could the a/c problem be what led to the battery going dead or the battery going dead cause the a/c to not work?

Let me add by saying about a month ago, I had the coolant temp sensor replaced because my check engine light came on. A/C worked before & after having that done. Not sure if that is a factor or not.

to make sure I have the fans correct....when looking under the hood facing the car, the fan on the left is the one that is working. Its the fan on the right (a/c fan I assume) that is not kicking on.

The car has been starting w/ no problems since we cleaned up the battery.

Is there an a/c fuse/relay that I need to check? The fuse box has an a/c fan, but its for the fan that blows into the car & that works just fine, other than blowing lots of hot air! Can I test the sensors to determine which one is bad if that is the problem? If so, how?

Thank you for any input =)

~holli

You need a new battery and a fan relay.

where is the relay located?

This weekend we direct jumped the clutch & it kicked on. Then we direct jumped the small fan from the battery & it did not kick on. I'm thinking maybe it's the fan motor. Does that sound correct?