HELP please with my AC

[BLLDOGG]

alright, first, a few days ago i turned on my AC and about a mile later it heard this pssshh noise from the passanger side around the firewall nd i turned off the AC and it went away. yesterday, i turned it on to see if it would work and it seemed fine, got cold fast and the only thing i noticed was the volts went down to the first red line and then slowly went up. about a mile later. i accelerated i gues kind of aggresivly and i heard this fast vibration noise or maybe a grinding(not sure about that description) and i let off the gas and it went away. so turned off the AC. what do you guys think is happening?

[terminaldegree]

Compressor's starting to sieze up maybe?

[BLLDOGG]

i would beso happy if it was something as easy as that. i dont knwo if its cheap, but its right there where i can get to it. anyone else have some input?

[Brian_D]

It's nearly impossible to tell what's going on with the A/C without looking under the hood.

What makes you think it's the A/C at all? The hissing noise could be a leaky vacuumm line or the evaporator doing it's thing... The grinding noise could be pretty much anything in the engine compartment.

You'll have to duplicate the situation and watch the compressor to see if it's engaged. It will be pretty obvious if the compressor is seizing.

Also, make sure your belt is in good shape. The A/C pulls the most resistance (by far) of all the various pulleys so if the belt is going, this will be the first to slip.

There's no connection between the A/C and the charging system except the engine cooling fan (which runs all the time at MAX A/C) and the heater fan behind the evaporator. If your voltage drops when you turn on the A/C, it's likely that one of these fans is shot.

In fact, now that I think of it... I bet your heater fan is going or gone. If it's not spinning and moving air across the evaporator, you'll get intermittent pressure build-up and release, causing the hissing sound you described. Also, under acceleration the heater motor shaft may shift within the motor housing, and cause the grinding noise you heard. (Especialy of the bearing is shot... the fan could even shift far enough to grind on the back of the evaporator housing)

Good Luck!

-Brian

[BLLDOGG]

so you think its the heater not the AC. im confused, i had it on AC, not MAX, or anything else. and the reason i say its the AC cause the syptoms have only been happening when the AC was on

[BLLDOGG]

i just read threw what i said and it kind of seemed rude. i dont mean too. i dont really knwo anything about the heater AC system. i appreciate any input you or anyone else may have

[BLLDOGG]

the heater fan. where is it and can i see it from above or below the car? i would like to see if i can see it moving. also, what would i have to do to make it move? turn on the AC or heater gain?

[Brian_D]

It's not rude to ask questions... it looks from your other post like you've got it beat!

I was considering the heater fan because of your description of the acceleration, and the fact that you hadn't really looked under the hood yet. (the fan that creates the air flow out of the vents is called the heater fan even though it's used for heater, vent and A/C operation)

You can't see the heater fan without removing some panels and getting to the heater core... not that it matters anymore.

You could still check it by turning on anything other than A/C (vent or heater) and trying to recreate the problem... it's unlikely you would but better safe than sorry.

Good luck on doing that swap yourself... watch out; those compressors are HEAVY!

-Brian

[john rocco]

what about the blower motor, part of the Ac systembehind your glove box, mine was temporarily sparatic some what similar to your situation. 3 screws on a cylinder like boob thing, pulls right out, could bve bad, or deteriorating wiring/ poor ground. there is a resistor assemblyto the right of the tranny tunnel, its a b#@%h to get to coil resistors can be problematic some times.
hope this may be helpful for you

[Brian_D]

blower motor = heater motor

Just a different world when you're used to a car without A/C@

[john rocco]

this may seem overly simple blldogg, but maybe there is a problem with the controling unit selector (far left) i was just working on the RAMPANT AC VIRUS gripe and when i disconnected the afore mentioned sw. it mak/makes the noise, maybe its your control panel?

[BLLDOGG]

maybe. im just going to delete my ac until i can find out whats wrong. plus, i have to worry about a whine right now, im pretty sure my alternator is going. keep the opinions coming

[jmihalchik98]

lol, its the compressor dude, ive told u this b4.