Dodge Durango Forum banner

a/c compressor clutch replaced three times WTF any ideas please?

1.4K views 9 replies 3 participants last post by  jaimster  
#1 ·
hey guys ! I have been dealing with this issue .. started getting loud noise from compressor it got worst where pulley bearing went bad , so I bought the clutch kit , replaced coil , clutch with bearing .. smoke started coming out of clutch it burned it and bearing broken too..
order brand new pulley , clutch , coil bearing .. after all installed done today it started burning the clutch again .. could it be a bad compressor bearing and if that so .. can that be replaced ?? :bugeyed:

any ideas and suggestions greatly appreciated !!
 
#2 ·
sounds like your compressor might be locked up.. Compressor replacement is not really a shade-tree-mechanic item..
If the compressor shredded itself, you may have to replace some other parts as well..
 
#3 ·
the compressor shaft it is turning !
I can hear a loud noise when the compressor engages too - when is off no noise
for the time i have disconnected it very quite .

what other parts are you referring when replacing the compressor if need to ?
is it the receiver , orifice tube !
 
#6 ·
installed new compressor , new condenser, expansion valves front and rear , receiver ,, pulled vacuum I found now I have a small leak on the rear expansion valve area ,,
pulled vacuum several times even got some dye into the system I could see some dye around rear evaporator connecting fitting to valve .
removed it replaced seal on rear valve
pulled vacuum -- left gauges over night next morning ,,I got a leak lost vacuum WTF !!:???:
what am I doing wrong how many o rings seals on that valve ?

any ideas appreciated-gracias
 
#7 ·
I am not an A/C guy.. far from it..

but recently over on a Jeep forum someone was tracking down a similar problem.. he ended up putting a partial charge in the system and using a refrigerant sniffer to find "the leak" ..
 
#8 · (Edited)
I have done about a half dozen A/C jobs so I am no expert but I had 2 particular problems that I found interesting. The first one had a leak but only on positive pressure. I pulled a vacuum and it held over night without a problem. I couldn't figure out why the system had no refrigerant in it and it held a vacuum. I decided to put dye in the system and check it. I looked everywhere and found nothing. Come to find out the leak was in the compressor on the shaft seal. Replaced the compressor and the drier. Everything worked great.

The other one that confused me to no end was my wife's Jeep commander. I was overseas when she had the alternator replaced 2 weeks before I got home. She said she noticed the A/C would make a High Pitched squeal when she turned it on and then after she was driving it would stop. It was getting worse so I tried to fix. I spent many days trying to figure this out. I changed the compressor, TXV, Condenser thinking it was blocked and causing a back up, Drier, Flushed the lines out in the evaporator, Changed the Belt tensioner... Nothing I did fixed that stupid noise. I finally took it to the dealer and asked for a diagnosis. They said it was the compressor so I took the compressor back that I just bought and got a new one. They installed and recharged it... Still squealed. They had to keep it for another day to try and figure out what was wrong. Come to find out the shop that replaced the Alternator put the fan belt back on wrong. While under normal driving it worked great but as soon as the A/C was switched on it maxed out the Belt Tensioner and put to much strain on the whole system. Needless to say, That was an expensive lesson with replacing everything!!!

Just out of curiosity, could the leak be on the gauges themselves. If you left it over night with the gauges on that could be a possibility. Sometimes I would use a spray bottle with soapy water to find the leak if you dont have a sniffer
 
#9 ·
gauges its a possibility !!
before them when I introduced dye into the system I could see it at night leaking around top of rear exp valve .between there and the evaporator fitting so removed the valve replaced seals installed it again ,, pulled vacuumed left gauges overnight next morning I could see the low side leaked !
I just got a tank of nitrogen im gonna charge it with it see if I can dectect the air , also got a spray bottle of leak detecting I will spray on it
could it be the rear evaporator connecting fitting that connects the the rear exp valve ?
 
#10 · (Edited)
quick update : pumped some air with a nitrogen tank around 50 psig , could hear air leaking out of rear exp valve so I removed rear valve AGAIN ..one of the " o "rings fell right off may not have been sealing / seating right replaced it
reset everything back pulled a vacuum for about two hours -- them closed low side high side shut pump off been seating there for over hour no leaks looks real good so far , I'll leave it overnight again .... well SEE