Rad Red 03

Maybe sombody can give some advice. I was sitting in my '03 GT for bout
30 Secs after starting it with the A/C on cause it's 95 Degrees in the shade in nashville
and all of a sudden it sounded like my engine was exploding under the hood. Souned like pieces
were flying over through the engine compartment, the engine stalled a couple of times when
restarted and then ran fine except the A/C now doesnt work.
I checked and it still has a full freon charge but no cool air. Havent gone to shop yet
is there anything esle I might check before i take out a second mortgage to have it worked on? Thanks!

zero2005

does the compressor still turn?

uberstang1

Sounds like the clutch on the compressor **** the bed.

Rad Red 03

Yup still turns and if i turn on air, it blows cool for bout 10 seconds then warm air again.
Hoping its just the compressor clutch as its less $$ to fix!

PROMETHEUS PRIME

so the clutch is engaging?

Rad Red 03

Not sure if its engaging. You can feel the extra load on the engine,
but normally I would hear a loud click when the clutch engages that I dont hear now!

PROMETHEUS PRIME

you can look to see if it it spinning with the pulley to know if it's engaged or not.

humansieve

You'll probably be better of replacing the whole compressor rather just the clutch the cost will be very similar. Just make sure that when the mechanic replaces the compressor that he also replaces the drier, expansion valve and flushes the entire system. You'll find shops who can do a less expensive job for you but trust me its not worth cutting corners here.

scottybaccus

If it made that much noise and stalled the engine, it's probably the compressor. It might be the clutch, but you could change it and be in the same boat.

The safe route is the expensive one. Compressor w/ clutch, drier, orifice tube, flush and charge with oil & refrigerant.

trailor

ok wow man, i had very similar symptoms (except no noise in the engine bay.. thats weird) and fixed it really simply, although it sounds like you've tried it already. i turned the car on, let it idle til it got the normal operating temp, turned on the max ac for 5min, then tested the line closest to the firewall with the pressure gauge you get from those antifreeze kits. it read a normal psi (45 i think) so i was a tad confused. went in the car, air was blowin cold and was not cutting out, like it had before. i shut the car off, left it alone for the rest of the day, cranked the next morning, and the AC has worked ever since.

one thing i will note is that, before, the AC was starting to become a big drain on my engine. it felt significantly more sluggish and would knock down my idle quite a bit for the first 5 or so seconds when i turned it on, and even did this for a couple days after this "fix." however, i finally got around to doin the IAC mod, and when i replugged my battery after leaving it unplugged for 10+ minutes, i did a procedure you're supposed to do to let the car 'relearn' it's idle. you crank it up, let it idle for abt 10-15min, then turn on the AC while still idling for 5 or so min, then drive it w/ AC off for 5 or so min, then drive it w/ AC on for 5 or so min. idle is steady as hell even when AC cranks on and the problem is gone now.