My 2016 Mazda 3 was in an accident, passenger front wheel hit curb and got demolished, Right curtain air bag deployed and right rear wheel scuffed. No other noticeable damage. took it to a repair shop to get the car repaired. They replaced the headliner, right curtain airbag, right side rims and tires and a wheel alignment. I went to pick up the car 2 months later and the AC wouldn't turn on, the fan wouldn't even blow. . The repair shop mechanic investigated and 3 weeks later tells us the compressor is bad. Is it possible for the AC to completely die sitting in a shop? Would a bad compressor cause the AC to not turn on? Since the shop had to replace the airbag and the battery should have been disconnected in the process to safely replace the airbag, could that have something to do with the AC not functioning now? The AC worked perfectly fine when I dropped the car off at the repair shop...

Just wanted to show the extent of the damage, don't know why the AC doesn't turn on anymore

 

So, there's a difference between A/C issues and blower motor issues. It's very possible that the collision caused an impact that may have dislodged or cracked the hoses to the A/C condenser. If that was the case, the freon may have leaked out causing the air being blown into the vehicle not to be cold, and eventually the leakage of oil from the A/C compressor may have seized if it continued, however that doesn't seem to be what you're experiencing. If the A/C is not "blowing", then your concern would be with the blower motor. If the blower motor is not being energized when pressing the button, your primary concern would be with either the motor itself or the circuit powering the motor. If the fan is blowing, but not cold, then you want to make certain that the A/C compressor clutch is engaging. This can be done by having somebody in the vehicle press the A/C button while observing the A/C compressor. If the front of the A/C compressor pulley is stationary with A/C off, and begins spinning with the compressor pulley when the button is pressed, your A/C compressor clutch is functioning and presuming you're not hearing a hellacious grinding once it engages, so is the compressor itself. I also reccomend the you hold your hand to the air vent with the A/C on and set to cold, if the blower motor is not pushing the air, the air should not be moving but should still be markedly colder than the ambient air due to the cooling of evaporator core. If this is the case, then the shop is most certainly not lying to you.

I'd also like to reccomend a very simple check of verifying that the A/C compressor clutch electrical connector is plugged in, if it is not then the A/C clutch will not engage and it will not blow cold air.

Presuming that the A/C condenser is fine and the blower motor is at fault, first check that the blower motor relay is functioning. The relay is located in the engine compartment fuse box. Remove the cover, follow the legend to locate the relay, remove it and visually inspect it for burning on the probes. If available use a relay tester or follow appropriate relay testing methods like energizing the relay resisters to actuate the relay and measuring resistance with a multi-meter. If you can't do that, simply have someone turn the fans on from the off position and listen and feel for a click from the relay. If it doesn't click, see if there's another identical relay in the fuse box, swap them, and retest making sure to replace the relays afterwards to avoid failure of another electrical system. If the relay is good and the blower motor still does not engage, follow these instructions to access the blower motor.


Once the blower motor is accessed, test voltage at the harness connector. If voltage is not present, then you have a fault in the circuit, if voltage is, then you likely have a faulty blower motor requiring replacement, much cheaper than an A/C condenser. Note that you only need to do this if the fan in the cabin is not blowing any air period. If the air is just not cold then refer to my instructions on testing the A/C compressor. This is not a comprehensive guide and should only be used for reference, if you have any more specific questions I'd be happy to answer.

 

Just looked into the TSBs, first thing first before they charge you a dollar. This is a very common issues with recently painted parts. Read this TSB outlining the Issue, it's likely the cause of your issues.

 

Thank you so much for the response and advice, very valuable info!