Air Conditioner almost makes truck die!!

When I turn on my air conditioner my truck gets a loud rumble sound and it feels like the engine is about to die on me... Can anybody tell me what is going on?

what year truck?

check belt tension, and AC pulley

check battery voltage with the truck both on and off

report back



When I turn on my air conditioner my truck gets a loud rumble sound and it feels like the engine is about to die on me... Can anybody tell me what is going on?

I would say to pull and check/clean the Idle Air Control motor. That would normally open just a little bit to advance the idle to keep the truck from stalling under the load of the A/C unit. Throttle body cleaner @ $3/can will do the trick. However, this is shooting blind from the hip - we do need to know the year and engine type to help pinpoint the problem. The A/C system may also be overcharged. The system can be checked with a $24 refill kit that includes a tap valve, hose with a gague on it and a can of blended refrigerant, PAG oil and system cleaner/booster. Look for the blue label "Interdynamics" kit if you can. Walmart and Autozone carry the product and the TB cleaner.

When I turn on my air conditioner my truck gets a loud rumble sound and it feels like the engine is about to die on me... Can anybody tell me what is going on?

Rumble, did you even open the hood to see where the noise was coming from?

If not, how about taking a look for yourself and see where the noise is coming from.

The year of the truck is 95 with a 4.3 vortec engine. I really can't pin point where the sound is coming from sounds like under the truck. Maybe the exhuast rumbleling because the truck almost dies.

Hmmm, still need to pinpoint that rumble, make sure it's not a bearing pack in the A/C going out. But it could be because the idle's loping because it's not advancing the throttle properly as I stated above. The IAC is located on top of your intake to the passenger side of the throttle bore itself, just in front of the butterfly plate if you take the intake tubes off. Cleaning it with TB cleaner and a soft brush *gently* will usually free them up. Clean and blast the bore it goes into clean with more TB cleaner and a soft brush, an old child's size nylon bristle tooth-brush works great here. Srub and blast all of the brown/black crud you *will* see on both the valve pintle and the bore it goes into until it's shiny metal. Mine used to lope and bump around badly when the A/C was first engaged when I first dragged the truck home. Cleaning the throttle up and the IAC valve got her back into shape. If it doesn't, well then it's time to look at other possibilities; as in "When was the last time you had it tuned up?" Etc.etc.etc.

I talk to a few people today about my air conditioner and they said that my compressor was going bad. It is making the the engine bog down really bad causing my exhaust to make a huge rumble sound. Does this sound right?

If the compressor bearings are gone, yes it will put a tremendous load on the engine.