1991 festiva gl

[ut76vol]

Not sure where to post so forgive me if in wrong place. Newbie!!!
While checking for loose wires etc under hood noticed that a wire was loose. After checking the manual i found that it should be connected to fluid pressure switch on the power steering pump. The top of the switch was not where it could be connected to the the wire. What is the harm without this connection?
I am more of a shadetree mechanic type so thanks in advance. I have another plea for help later.

[htchbck]

Wow, a Festiva with power steering! Honestly not sure what the pressure switch does on a festiva. On some vehicles it will trigger a low pressure light on the dash (much like a low oil pressure light) but I've never seen one on a festiva so I'm not sure. But then again there aren't too many Festivas with power steering out there. I would guess that not having it plugged in shouldn't hurt anything

[crazyrog17]

I would guess that switch would default to ground if there was low pressure so leaving it unplugged should be fine.

[ut76vol]

Dumb me

While waiting around I did a little more research. Forget about the power steering pump, as probably most would think, that wire actually goes into the air condition pump unit that runs off the belt. Not a PSP on this car.
Same question though.
Sorry!

[htchbck]

Thats the AC clutch wire then... probably. So without that wire hooked up, the AC won't work, even when its turned on.

[sc72]

Just .02 but since the AC pump is unpluged, it might be that the AC clutch is squealing and simply unpluged to get rid of the noise.

[htchbck]

Just .02 but since the AC pump is unpluged, it might be that the AC clutch is squealing and simply unpluged to get rid of the noise.

Unless there is a problem with the circuitry, all you would need to do is turn off the switch on the dash. No need to unplug. Unless they were afraid someone would turn it on that didn't know there was a problem maybe.

[ut76vol]

OK

But the ac works well and is cold. I had to put a new bolt in the ac belt adjuster because the other one broke. At that time the ac would not work because the belt was off. I replaced the belt and the broke bolt and no problem since. I did not hit this wire at that time because I saw it was not hooked up. I run it to the nearest ( possible location) and it seemed to go into the area of the ac compressor where it looked like it may have been attached. Cannot see any problems it may have caused not hooked but just trying to see what may be.
Thanks!

[htchbck]

Is there a black wire going to the AC compressor right now? I would assume yes if the AC is working. Which means still need to track down where that other wire would go.

[ut76vol]

Yes

The black wire goes to the front of the compressor next to the pully area. On the top end it is connected by a male/female connector. This wire looks to be red or orange and it comes from the harness up on the inside top that goes back across the top area of the radiator. There it messes with other covered harness wires so I am not sure where it comes out on the other side or somewhere in between.

[htchbck]

So the wire you found doesn't go to the AC, since the AC wire is still hooked up properly. Can you find the other end of the mystery wire? Or at least tell us where it joins into the main harness?

[ut76vol]

WELL

Actually the wire appears( according to its length and location) to attach to a sensor looking thing on the ac compressor. The sensor or whatever looks like it may have had a connection area on it and it has be broken off. Where the wire goes once it hits the top of the radiator area I cannot tell.

No big deal thought I just thought it may be necessary but I see not problems as it relates to the ac.
\
Thanks all!!

[bravekozak]

pressure switch

I thought the switch on the power steering pump was for pump pressure via resistance. I thought it connects to the idle up switch so that when you are cranking the wheels with low engine rpms, it will increase the engine speed so that it won't stall. It should operate on the same principle as when the air conditioner is engaged and the engine is at idle.

[FestYboy]

^ correct.

[ut76vol]

thanks to all!