About a month ago I had a the SC/Alternator/AC belt blow off. After I put another belt back on, the AC did not work. After getting under the car I found that the clutch on the compressor wasn't engaging when the AC was turned on.

So this weekend I was down there again replacing my alternator, so I took a look at it. The wire leading to the back of the clutch was frayed. It was still in tact, but the covering of the wire had been stripped away. So, I just taped it up.

Still doesn't work.

Any suggestions? I've never really messed with the AC compressor, so I'm not sure what to look for.

 

Any ideas? TTT

 

Check your refrigerant pressure first. If it is too low the compressor clutch won't activate. If the refrigerant pressure looks good, check the pressure switch. I'm not sure where it is, but it will be a switch sort of like your oil pressure sender, and it will be threaded into the refrigerant line or maybe the dryer/accumulator.

Or it could just be the clutch. They eventually go out and need to be replaced.

 

Is there a special guage for testing the pressure? Do you check on the low pressure port? What's a normal pressure reading?

The AC has always been strong...as long as the clutch as engaged. Is the clutch replaceable without replacing the compressor and dumping the entire AC system?

 

Do you think that you may have blown a fuse. If the wire is a + wire and came in contact with ground it may have done this. Just an idea, and hopefully a quick fix.

 

You can get cheapo pressure gauges from Pepboys that basically have a green zone and a red zone. If you are in the green zone then all is good. If you are in the red zone that means you are low on refrigerant, but for the clutch not to come on the refrigerant needs to be very low. At any rate, if you find yourself in the red zone go ahead and add a can of R134a and see if that gets the compressor moving.

Refrigerant will leak out on its own over a long enough time because the o-rings at the line connections eventually lose their sealing efficacy, but it's a good idea to look for a massive leak, like maybe in the line that runs close to your SC pulley.

 

Good idea.