Is my AC compressor going out..., ...or do I just need recharge the AC? Options

[conus00]

I was driving on very hot day with the AC on and out of sudden the AC stopped blowing cold air. My g/f said that she smelled something.
Shortly afterward my AC fuse blew. I just replaced it and tried to turn the AC on and blew it again. I noticed some unusual sound coming from the bay so I (temporarily) replaced it with 20A and had my g/f to turn the AC on while looking at the compressor. The belt is moving but when she turns it on the top of the pulley starts making slow jerking moves and does not spin freely (looks like it is locking up).

I know that on her 91 Suburban that is the indication that you have lost all the freon (or whatever they use to fill AC nowadays). Is it the same on Celica and do I just need to recharge my AC or is my compressor just going out?

This post has been edited by conus00: Jun 25, 2010 - 10:11 AM

[solidxsnake]

I was driving on very hot day with the AC on and out of sudden the AC stopped blowing cold air. My g/f said that she smelled something.
Shortly afterward my AC fuse blew. I just replaced it and tried to turn the AC on and blew it again. I noticed some unusual sound coming from the bay so I (temporarily) replaced it with 20A and had my g/f to turn the AC on while looking at the compressor. The belt is moving but when she turns it on the top of the pulley starts making slow jerking moves and does not spin freely (looks like it is locking up).

I know that on her 91 Suburban that is the indication that you have lost all the freon (or whatever they use to fill AC nowadays). Is it the same on Celica and do I just need to recharge my AC or is my compressor just going out?

I couldn't tell you to be honest, but it couldn't hurt to try to refill the loop. At least, I think it couldn't hurt. It's about $20 a can of coolant around here, so it's relatively cheap and it could be a start.

It makes sense for that to be an indication of all of the coolant being gone, as the compressor may need to be primed to work. Can't say for sure, I'm not too familiar with phase-change systems, just throwing some ideas out there. The fact that you say that's the indication for the coolant being gone on her Suburban makes me believe it's probably the same for your car, mainly because A/C systems vary little between cars, it's just a simple single-stage phase-change system.

This post has been edited by solidxsnake: Jun 25, 2010 - 10:42 AM

[zfjohnson07]

not to jack your thread.. but i thought mine was going out. put freon in it. and well my ac isnt even cold to me.. now if i run air from outside the car rather then just running the regular air inside the car, it feels colder coming from outside my car.. what does that mean is my air that crappy? if that makes any snese to yall

[solidxsnake]

not to jack your thread.. but i thought mine was going out. put freon in it. and well my ac isnt even cold to me.. now if i run air from outside the car rather then just running the regular air inside the car, it feels colder coming from outside my car.. what does that mean is my air that crappy? if that makes any snese to yall

You should check to make sure it's fully charged, use a gauge on the low/high pressure port.

http://www.aa1car.com/library/ac_recharging.htm

If it is charged, make sure the compressor is running when you turn the A/C switch on and the fans on. If it isn't, there's your problem.

If the compressor is working and the system is charged, check the low-pressure metal line and make sure it's cold. If it is, then there's some sort of problem with your evap. setup, but I feel like that is highly unlikely.

[conus00]

Just dropped the car off at the shop. The mechanic said that the clutch on the compressor is blown.

[zfjohnson07]

dang that sucks.. tell me how much it costs to get fixed

[solidxsnake]

Just dropped the car off at the shop. The mechanic said that the clutch on the compressor is blown.

Looking at the website I posted above, if the system was completely drained of coolant, the compressor's clutch wouldn't engage, and filling the system would be impossible. Is it possible your system was/is just empty?

[conus00]

Is it possible your system was/is just empty?

Nope, I saw the compressor out of the bay. The clutch was shredded.

dang that sucks.. tell me how much it costs to get fixed

The total price was $530 out of the door including tax, labor and freon.
Gotta go back on Monday to let them finish the repairs. The dryer has to replaced too ($30).

So grand total will be $560.

This post has been edited by conus00: Jun 26, 2010 - 10:38 AM

[solidxsnake]

Is it possible your system was/is just empty?

Nope, I saw the compressor out of the bay. The clutch was shredded.

dang that sucks.. tell me how much it costs to get fixed

The total price was $530 out of the door including tax, labor and freon.
Gotta go back on Monday to let them finish the repairs. The dryer has to replaced too ($30).

So grand total will be $560.

Ouch, that's rough. Hopefully that's all man, good luck!