Finally got my AC issue fixed! Take note!

So 1.75 years ago (3300 miles lol) I bought my new to me wagon. I owned it a week and put 900 miles on it. Well 800 miles into the back to back weekend trips, my compressor locked up and got so hot I had to sacrifice a cold beer to cool it off (the grease on it was bubbling and smoking and was afraid it was going to ignite as so much smoke was pouring out while I drove it looked like a crop duster.

Anyhoo, I replaced all the important AC parts with a kit from Rock Auto (they have a couple, don't recall which one as it was a long time ago). I've done at least 10 car ACs on different makes/models and this was my third or fourth on a wagon, so not my first rodeo.

It all went smoothly and I charged it up. Car blew ice cubes and life was good. This was about 1.5 years ago. Car was giving me fits and starts with the ICM being flaky (took me like 6 or 8 months or more as it would piss me off and I'd drive the other car). So I get it all dialed in and back in June, take a 200 mile trip each way and lose a water pump (see other thread).

While I'm testing out the new cooling system I notice the AC clutch cycling too much, so check and sure enough the pressure is down. I throw a can in it. It blows cold and then I drop something on the ground and see a puddle on the ground. I think it's coolant and then it feels like oil. It's leaking out of the compressor at the back.

So cut to the chase, I'm off all last week and it's 7 days of non stop rain whiich is unusual for FL. I buckle on Wed and take it to the AC shop, and tell the guy everything.

Turns out the factory bolt was too long for the replacement compressor! Not by much by enough to no fully seal the system so as the seals just got worse and started leaking as they let pressure out. I would have gotten really pissed and never found the issue myself probably. Cost me about $375, but the system has now been pressure tested well and the rest of my work was spot on.

so go figure that one out.....stupid cars.

Glad you got it figured out. I hate messing with A/C at work.

That's an interesting problem, would be real difficult to find yourself!

What brand compressor was it? I'm about to install a Delphi and a GPD on my two buckets.

sherlock9c1 wrote:

What brand compressor was it? I'm about to install a Delphi and a GPD on my two buckets.

Gotta love having an order history search  
It blows ice cubes now


https://www.rockauto.com/en/moreinfo.php?pk=9824180&cc=1037483&jsn=7

sounds like a rock auto story - something so simple, yet so not obvious in this case and yes, beyond annoying!

That compressor is in the worst place it could have been put for service work.
When I replaced mine, the rear support bracket I notched to slide into the bolt that secures it to the block.
My replacement worked about 1 year, then quit running, and I never looked into why, but I think it lost its charge. Never had any oil leaking.
And forget about buying a used one, when I went looking they were all defective leakers, or had bad bearings in the pulley.