Aircon compressor

[Kim Downs]

Hi I watched the Aircon noise video excellent. I recently had cool air in my aircon 80 series landcruiser so i Took it to on garage and he said i have gas there but need to vacumm it our refill it and add die to see any leaks he was a little dear so I went to another garage and the did that and now my compressor has seiezed it moves very slowly and makes a lowd noise it gave me cold air for 3 seconds

Topic

[Kim Downs]

Hi aircon was working with cool air i took it to an aircon place they filled it with gas and die and now the compressor has siezed and the compressor worked before now it just moves slowly and makes a loud noise and has a burning smell can i fix the compressor or do i need a new system for aircon. The aircon garage said i need a whole new system but I watched ericthecarguy video on fixining the aircon compressor just wondering if its worthwhile trying that.

[college man]

Depends on what make model year and engine you have?

[Brian]

It can’t hurt to try at this point, but I had the same issue recently. I just replaced the compressor and its all good now. If yours has made very bad noises then seized, that means its falling apart inside. On mine, I could hold my hand under the pulley wheel while the engine was running and fresh aluminum shavings fell into my hand. With the aircon compressor, its not just the bearings that go out, the other moving parts start to fight each other.

[college man]

Check that the belt is not slipping. You may be able to replace the clutch.
Without seeing and doing any testing I can’t tell you the condition of your
compressor. see if this helps.

http://www.landcruiserclub.net/forums/showthread.php/34783-air-con-compressor-clutch-change

[Wyr Twister]

Hear is my take on this . Figure our what your vehicle is worth , in cold hard currency . Or what it would cost to replace it with an equivalent vehicle in proper running order .

Now , it does not sound like you are in the position to repair this vehicle your self ? So you are going to have to have a repair shop take care of it for you . Cold hard fact , vehicle repairs are expensive . It seems to me , A/C repairs are especially expensive .

Lets say you take it to 3 shops for estimates . The people generating the estimates are only going to spend a certain amount of time diagnosing the needed repairs . Time is money .

The estimator may or may not be able to 100% able to determine how catastrophic the failure is / was . With his / her limited time and the possible uncertainty , he / she may very well quote a complete system . And this also covers their behind . You need to remember , once they touch it , you are going to expect them to back up their work ( warranty ) .

Another thing affecting their pricing is how busy the shop or their A/C person is . If it is in the dead of summer and people with A/C problems are lined up out side , their pricing may be higher than if it is in the dead or winter . Supply and demand .

I know this is how many home HVAC contractors operate .

So , after saying all that , we , on the internet can not tell you a whole lot more , hard and fast . If there has been a catastrophic failure inside the compressor , all kinds of metal moving parts end up grinding themselves up into varing sizes of metal particles From chunks to fine shavings

All this debris has to be made to go away . At the very least , the compressor , the accumulator / receiver dryer , metering device ( orifice tube or expansion valve ) need to be replaced .

The evaporator coil , condenser coil and hoses / lines need to be cleaned / flushed out . This is not cheap . There is the labor , tooling and the flushing / cleaning chemical / fluid . There is a chance some of these things may be physically stopped up by larger chunks / particles and have to be replaced . The shop may be unwilling to take a chance on not replacing some or all of these parts .

On the other hand , if nothing internal self destructed inside the compressor , then a lot of this may be avoided .

Now , no mater what , when the repairs are complete , the shop will have to vacuum the system down . Do an initial check for leaks . If all is well at that point , install the proper amount of refrigerant & then check for system performance ( cooling ) . Lastly , they may have to do another check for leaks , now that the system is under pressure .

All this takes time which equates to money .

Now , look at the estimates . Is the vehicle worth the cost of repairing it ?

God bless
Wyr

[Author]

Replies