A/C compressor problem.

[dogdaysunrise]

Well its actually a long story, so I will make it short as possible. It starts off working on my dad's Buick. We were workin under the hood and I got him to start it, and we noticed that there was a metal on metal grinding noise. We were lookin around and noticed it coming mostly from in around the water pump. I noticed some metal shavings on the A/C compressor and thought that they were coming off the water pump pulley, to my suprise it was the a/c compressor not disengaging completely and slightly grinding against the pulley. We decided to take a look at the compressor under my hood and see how it was working, and within the first 2 seconds of startup noticed why my a/c doesnt work my compressor is not engaging at all. So all you wise folk I ask you.

1) Would it be a clutch problem on my compressor causing it to not engage? or could it be a wiring problem? It was already dark when I found it, so I havent checked to see if I get voltage when the ac is on in the cab, plan on doin that sometime this week.

2) I know its not a truck, but its still of the same bloodline. What would be causing the Buick to not disengage properly?

I have an idea how the compressors work, but am not sure on this one.

Mike

 

[HarryH3]

Your compressor won't run unless there is plenty of refrigerant in the system. There's a low pressure cutoff switch that prevents the compressor from self destructing due to low refrigerant/oil flow.

The clutch is supposed to have 20 thousandths clearance to the compressor drive when the compressor is off. But if your dads is only hitting on one side, then most likely a bearing is failing and letting the alignment between the two parts go out of spec. They should be parallel... You need a special puller and installation tool to remove/install/adjust the clutch and/or replace the bearings.

 

[dogdaysunrise]

well thats good to know for mine, I will get it check next year, its colder then heck here right now so there is no point for the a/c

sucks for my dad though...

 

[HarryH3]

You'll find that the defroster doesn't work as well when the a/c is dead. GM runs the a/c in defrost mode to help remove moisture from the cab.

 

[dogdaysunrise]

it was dead last winter too, im not too worried about it. Thanks for the responses.