Replaced AC compressor after DTC B1498 and still no AC

Did you find a fix David?

 

A public service announcement seems needed here. It applies to more than just this issue or just this code.

When a trouble code is reported by the car, it doesn't pay to skip over the workup steps in the repair manual (more info) that are meant to figure out the actual reason the code was set. In the case of this code, you can see under 'detection condition' that what the car's computer saw was one of two things, and there's a list of trouble areas that might be the cause of one or the other of those two things. The compressor isn't at the top of the list, and the first post here doesn't really say that those items were all 'checked'.



Even for items like 'amplifier', 'inverter', 'control panel inside car' that it says they 'checked', it doesn't say how they 'checked'. The repair manual has eight pages of specific steps to follow to check the possible contributors to this code.

It is never fun to replace an expensive part and then still have the problem because it was something else all along and somebody fast-forwarded over the diagnosis, but if viewed as tuition it isn't so bad, if it can lead to not making the same mistake with some even more expensive part later on.

In particular, the harness/connector between the power management ECU and the compressor (first item in the trouble areas) is kind of a usual suspect on a Gen 3; the connector on the compressor faces up, and people have seen it collect water and corrode. (Sometimes that does require replacing the compressor, if its connector is irreparably damaged, but maybe not if caught in time.)

But even somebody jumping to that conclusion, instead of compressor replacement, would still not really be taking this PSA to heart. The main thing is, don't jump to any conclusion, don't fast-forward over doing the diagnosis. There will be times you find out it wasn't any of the things you guessed, and was something you wouldn't have thought of.

 

You are correct. I unplugged both compressor plugs and did the tests. Compressor windings were good. The plug had corrosion in the female parts of the plug. Male parts in compressor were just fine. cleaned and lubed and no more code.