This 1997 Suzuki Sidekick came in with the complaint that the a/c would come on and blow cool for a minute or two and then the air would turn warm. The customer had taken the vehicle to several shops before arriving at mine. It only took a minute or two to see the pressures climb on the low and high side of the system. My first thought was that the system was overcharged but then I noticed that the electric condenser fan was not coming on. A little bit of inspection and I found the cooling fan relay hanging next to the radiator on the driver’s side of the vehicle. This repair was going to need a new relay and harness connector.
It was pretty obvious to me that the damage was caused by water intrusion into the unsealed connection.
I decided to replace the relay and harness connector with sealed units. I stripped the harness back far enough to find good clean wiring and then went about installing the new sealed connector. This particular connector has a sealing panel on the rear of the connector. The wire has to be slid through the panel and the connector body. The terminal is then crimped on using a special set of crimping pliers.
The wire and terminal are then pulled back into the connector body where it latches into position.
I repeated the process on all four wires to complete the connector installation. Below is the side view of the finished connector repair.
The terminal end view of the completed connector.
In the pictures below you will see all of the components for this connector and others. The connector bodies with the red end are the reverse view of the connector body that I used. Also note that the green silicone gasket seals the seam where the connector body and the relay meet. All of these seals create a highly water resistant assembly.
