Have a 2006 Saturn ac clutch the car has enough freon and I have power to the ac clutch and I have a good ground on the black wire but I see rust on the out side of the clutch can I clean it with something or take it off and clean it to get my ac to work again

Check for battery voltage on the dark blue/yellow wire in the connector at the AC clutch with engine running and AC on. If no voltage, yank the AC relay and check for battery voltage on terminal 86 in the relay socket. If no battery voltage on that terminal, check fuse 21. If yes, check for ground on terminal 85 in the socket. If no ground, then PCM isn't commanding the AC clutch on. Check for voltage on the dark blue/yellow wire at the low pressure switch and good ground on the black wire. The PCM provides power to the low pressure switch which then goes to ground. The PCM is looking for a large voltage drop if pressure is above 34-38 psi. If pressure is below that, the switch will be open, so the PCM won't see a voltage drop and will prevent AC clutch operation. The high pressure switch should be closed at pressures below 270-330 psi

Can you tell if compressor clutch is engaged? If clutch isn't engaged only the belt pulley will be moving and the compressor clutch is not engaged. If not engaged, no ac.

Can you check for applicable hvac codes? To check codes, your-self, at the least, you need an obd2 code reader, that will check manufacturer specific codes as well as po.

I haven't looked at your wiring, you could probably check voltage and ground for compressor, hvac on.
In the diagram, you see applicable fuses--clutch relay-- the top wire at ac clutch is voltage--black wire is ground.

If you have battery voltage at AC clutch and a good ground then you have a defective AC clutch/coil assembly

Check to see if you have power at your AC, then have to check to see if you have power and ground at relay pins, if not trace wires, also your relay could be bad to

is it full of freon? if so it could be that you just need to change the magnetic clutch which is a lot simpler job and cheaper too. get a book first so you have referance pull the belt off pull the nut in the center of the ac compressor make shure that you know what the clearance is betwean the clutch and the compressor it has shims and is imperative that the clearance is right you will need measurment tools feeler gages work best but befor you do any of this you need to make sure there is power and ground going to the two wire conector going to the clutch it wont get power till you turn the ac on or the computer tells it to run for the interior eco system so a magnetic cluch will not turn on if there is no signal resulting in the compressor not terning making the ac not work but its fairly simple to do and 900 is a dicent price at a shop but they would probably charge you for the whole compressor and charging the system and it was only a cluch if there is freon and the compressor isnt siezed and theres signal and ground change the clutch

Check the capacitors

This could be a few things. The freon could be low, one of the switches (high or low pressure) could be bad, or you could have a bad compressor clutch. You can test the clutch by checking for battery voltage and ground at the two pin connector with the A/C on if you have both power and ground, then the clutch is bad. You really should start by hooking up pressure gauges to the A/C ports to check the pressures, and these vary depending on ambient temperature and whether the A/C compressor is engaged or not. I am willing to bet that the freon is low though and may be just as simple as recharging the system.
Hope this helps. Good luck!

dont!!! an you start to add freon, itll start to cycle the compresor clutch until within safe operating pressure and then it will hold clutch in constant. charge liquid(with can upside down). if wont take freon in this manner than your more than low on charge. running low on charge will quickly destroy pump, especiallt those old harrisons. the refrigerant also cools the compressor. good luck and wear gloves-

From what I understand from the dealer, the L series has an issue with a/c compressors. My 2001 LW300 had the same problem. Usually the clutch coil is bad. If you take the 2 wire plug off your compressor and put power to one pin and ground to the other the clutch should lock. If not, replace the clutch. You can buy an aftermarket clutch for about $130. Hopefully your compressor is easier to get at than mine. Good Luck.

The power to run the compressor clutch coil goes from the battery, to the AC Clutch Relay, somewere in the engine compartment fuse box, then it goes to the positive side of the AC compressor clutch coil; goes thru the coil, activating the compressor, and then goes to complete the circuit through another switch (high pressure protection switch) in the back of the AC compressor and finally reaching negative or Ground.

Disconnect the AC compressor clutch connector and using a 12 V bulb with 2 wires (test lamp) check the following:

1.- connect 1 lamp wire to battery neg; with the other check both pins at connector with the AC in the RUN (AC and ignition switch on ) you should have power in one side.

2.- connect 1 lamp wire to battery positive and with the other check both pins at connector, lamp should light getting the ground from the clutch connector thru the high pressure compressor switch to ground.

On the other side what makes the relay close and let the power flow to the clutch works with the low pressure switch, (if the freon pressure is too low it opens and kills the ground to the relay coil and that kills the compressor), that low pressure switch is in the low pressure side of the freon tubing, the fat pipe that comes from inside the firewall into the accumulator/dryer, a big aluminum cylinder sitting on the right side of the engine compartment in GM cars.

To know if the low press switch is the cause you can unplug it and connect both legs with a paper clip for a minute or two, no more, you don't want to damage the compressor. anyway if jumping the switch makes the compressor come alive and kick in, you either have low freon pressure or a bad switch; it's time for the pressure gauges and check how the compressor is pumping and that is better left to a pro.

By the way you said that your system is a R-12 system, have you considered switching to R-134a the new "ozone friendly" freon? to do that you need to evacuate the system with a recycling machine and pull vacuum in your AC, if it holds the vacuum for a while, then you can be sure that there are not leaks and then dump 1.5 or 2 pound (check the labels in the engine compartment) of R-134a into your system. it will be a good idea to put some fluorescent leak detecting dye in the system to check for leaks, just in case..