Hey so my old ac compressor's clutch went bad after 170k miles, so I put in a NEW compressor this morning.

The install was easy, I finished up, took my car to a shop to get it evacuated, and then I went to put freon in my car from the r134a can's you get at autozone.

The problem is, for some reason my clutch won't engage. I jacked up the car, rechecked the clutch connector and it was in and secure, the lines were secure(with new o rings of course), I put half the bottle of freon in there, or about 7oz and the clutch still will not engage. I did oil the new compressor as well as according to my haynes manual.

Any ideas of WTF is going on with my car!?

 

You only added 7oz. of freon?

I'm pretty sure the Maxima takes a pound to a pound and a half...

If there's not enough freon, the clutch won't engage.

 

Why didn't you have the shop that evacuated it simply charge it by weight with the a/c machine - which is the only way to get the correct R134 charge?

Your clutch isn't energizing because you don't have enough pressure (charge) in yet.

 

Well the shop said their machine to charge it was broken and since they were evacuating it for free I didn't complain.

I'll go home and add more tonight. Is it ok to keep charging it even thought the gauge is in the red? I charged it to 80 psi according to the gauge on the can but I got worried I'd overfill it so I stopped and hd only use about 7oz.

 

If you don't have one, it would be wise to get a gauge. That would eliminate the dangers of overfilling the system.

 

I wouldn't put much faith in the pressure gauge that comes with the can (assuming you got a can with a built in gauge, not a separate low side gauge. Those are better, but still not nearly as useful as a manifold gauge set).

If you only added 7 ounces, keep going. As said, charging by weight with an actual scale is best, though you can get it relatively close with known can sizes.

The system holds 1.3-1.5 lbs, you're at less than half a pound right now. Compressor turn-on is at 26 psi, you're not even at that yet.

I wouldn't go so far as to say eliminate, but would certainly lend more insight into relative charge level. Even reading static pressures requires some knowledge on how ambient temperature and humidity affect the readings.