I have an Amana central a/c unit. The outside unit will not come on like it used to. I went outside to check it out and could hear a clicking sound. I pulled cover off the side of the unit and discovered the clicking was coming from the contactor, it clicks and tries to engage and sometimes it will engage but it takes 30 minutes or so. I can manually push it in and compressor and fan motor come on just fine but go off when I release contactor. The contact points are a little burned looking and corroded. The unit is 10 years old, should I replace the contactor or could it be somethig else? Thanks

Do you own a voltage meter?

No, But I can borrow one from neighbor

Ok, well you need to determine if there is 24 volts on the coil side of the contactor. What is the brand and model number of the outdoor unit? There may be a safety switch tripped not allowing the unit to start, such as a high or low pressure switch.

The unit is an Amana model number RCE30A2B. I have been outside working on it , I pulled the contactor off and cleaned it out , it had lots of dirt and dust and dead spiders and lizards and who knows what else. It seems to be working for now. If it stops again, I will check the voltage on coil side of contactor as you have suggested. Thanks for the help. I have checked the voltage and it is 24 volts, it is working for now but it seems erratic. If it continues, I guess I will change the contactor.

So, here is the fix to my problem. After changing the contactor and the thermostat and I still didn't fix it, my wife made me call a profesional( and I'm glad she did). My problem was a time delay box on the outside unit, it was causing an inconsistent delay. The technician said he could replace or bypass it because my new thermostat has a built in delay. He bypassed the delay box and my unit works great again. Thanks to hvacservicetech_07 for the help in trying to help me diagnose my problem, this was one of those that was not easy to figure out. Thaks again