Replaced Keihin Compressor, Randomly Quits

[Samwise]

At the beginning of the summer, I finally took it upon myself to fix my blasted A/C. Turned out the problem was the Keihin compressor. So after flushing the system with mineral oil, I swapped it out for a rebuilt 4Seasons along with the drier and got it charged with R12. Blew pretty cool after that.

But it would randomly have problems with the dash switches for REC and AC. Every so often, the lights for those two switches would refuse to come on. The compressor wouldn't engage and the recirculator wouldn't close, and if I left the AC switch in with the light off for too long, my engine temp would skyrocket. Restarting the engine usually fixed it, although it sometimes took a few tries. If the lights were off, they stayed off until I restarted, and if they were on, they stayed on (except for only one instance I can recall).

Eventually the problem disappeared. I attributed it to the system being old and not being used for a long time. But it came back about a week ago. It happens very seldom (a lot less often than before) but enough for me to notice.

So basically what I'm asking is...is this something I should be worried about?

[Buzo]

As far as I know those switches work only when your AC is fully charged. There are several sensors that are in series with the AC button, and all of them must be OK in order to get your system started. I would get the pressure checked and refill accordingly. If the symptom gets back you have a leak!

[Samwise]

I think it'd be much more likely it's the sensors themselves going bad. There were no leaks whatsoever when I flushed it, and the mechanics who charged it said it held a vacuum for half an hour. I'll get it checked anyway though, just to be safe.

Thanks for the help.

[nswst8]

Ignition switch wiring harness. The key clue here is that when you restart the car this will sometimes resolve the problem. I had the same problem with the radio not powering up on start up. And the fact that sometimes you have to restart it a few times. The contacts in the ignition switch wear down.

The part is about $50 and takes about 10 minutes to change.

[POS carb]

I'm with Phil on this one, ignition switch

[gp02a0083]

x3 on the ignition switching . Climate controls and the radio will go out , had that happen to me on my 87 hatch