[lee]

thanks for offering to look - if there's nothing in your heated seat relay socket your idea of somebody making use of another empty block may be what happened as the plastic block that the A/C relay would go in looks like it got damaged by some fat fingers.

And thanks for the idea about lack of coolant. The PO told me he had changed out the compressor - maybe he never got around to finishing the job - also looks like it was converted to R-134 by the fittings - not sure what can go wrong with a botched job in that area. Problem is I don't know anybody I really trust on A/C - want to try to isolate as much as possible before I hand it off.

I think the car was a case of somebody trying to bring it back from the dead and just got tired of trying - new transmission, radiator, steering rack, battery, belts & hoses, and some other misc stuff in just the last 18 months (that's how long he owned it) - and I just did the water pump and timing belt thing today - tomorrow is a trans cooler install and a replacement of front brake hoses (left front burst) - then on to trouble shooting the A/C - using your input as a guide.

P.S. The car has spent it's whole life (titled life anyway) in Florida. But the heat and humidity, not to mention sea air corrosion, can do as much damage as northern climate changes.