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Originally Posted by baron1701
Yesterday my A/C was a little warmer than normal. I was messing around with a brake repair so I decided to put a can of refrigerant that I had kicking around. The car responded well with some very cold air. While I was filling, I noticed that I didn't hear the a/c clutch engage. I checked with a pressure gauge and all was well. Later that night I noticed that the a/c had just quit.
This morning the a/c worked fine. I also have a dull thumping at idle that I cant explain. Could this all be indication of a compressor failure? I have no lights on and a 1995 that cost a hundred to have scanned. If this is an indication of failure, should I buy a 'shorty' belt and replace the compressor before it siezes and sends junk thru the entire system? There is no other sign of failure. Tonight i am going to see if i can turn the clutch. I think it should spin freely.
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The A/C clutch won't engage if there isn't enough pressure in the system (i.e. a leak) I noticed when I was filling mine up that the clutch wouldnt engage... I ended up putting 75 PSI of pressure in and it still didnt wouldnt budge. I shut the car off to check it out... started it back up... and then it decided to kick in. This might be why it got going again in the morning.
If you want to find out if the compressor is causing your thumping noise, start the car and run the A/C on MAX. Then push the "A/C" button to deactivate the compressor and see if the sound goes away. If it does you might try turning it by hand like you mentioned. If it seems kinda rough, stop using the A/C immediately, it's a big PITA to get all the metal out of the system if you dont, and you might end up needing to buy a condenser as well.
PS My 95' didnt have any engine lights on when the compressor completely seized up, so you probably aren't going to see one either.