Chrysler 300M Air Conditioning

[Matt Brandsema]

I am working on a 2000 Chrysler 300M, and it was brought to me with no compressor belt. She told me that she couldn’t remember exactly what happened, but a few years ago the air stopped working. She sent it to a shop and she says she thinks they said it was a compressor, and someone down the line cut the AC belt off. (She says she THINKS someone said the compressor was “frozen” which I interpret to mean seized)

Since she was so wishy-washy with the story, I wanted to see the evidence for myself. First I put gauges on the system and it had 0 psi on both sides. (So no refrigerant) I then pulled a vacuum on a system and it held 28 psi for over 30 mins. I was confused as to why there was no refrigerant when there is no leaks.

So then I hot wired the compressor clutch to see if it would engage (after I put a new belt on) and it DID engage fine. But after I engaged it a few times, it stopped wanting to engage and my hotwires were getting REALLY hot. I am confused why it worked the first few times, and then all of a sudden stopped.

What do you guys think?

Topic

[Bill]

Since the compressor was not working maybe someone removed the refrigerant for them to recycle. Sounds like the clutch coil is going to ground when warmed up. I would replace the compressor.

[college man]

Sounds like it is seizing up.Put an amp meter
on one of the lines to check amp draw.

[Author]

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