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AC Clutch/Compressor Help

charsawbis

Active Member
Joined
July 12, 2007
Messages
50
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City, State
New York
Year, Model & Trim Level
96 Eddie Bauer 4.0
The AC on my 96 (EB 4.0) doesnt seem to work any more. I just took it on a 700 mile trip and she was fine. But the yesterday i noticed a noise when idling. The compresser doesnt seem to engage fully, it clicks spins and stops, then repeats, over and over and over. You can feel the resistance it puts on the engine also. If i'm not mistaken the Clutch is what is connected to the belt, which in turn powers the compressor.
The fact that it keeps trying to turn on leads me to believe something is wrong with the clutch or the compressor. is there a way to check? The system was recharged maybe a year ago and used to blow ice cold air up until yesterday. Also a strange smell comes through the vents when the system is trying to kick on.
i'm hoping its an electrical thing and i can replace a connector or maybe just the Clutch. i do not want to have to disharge the system and replace everything cause i dont have the equip. however if i have to obviosly i will. If anyone knows of a good shop in the North NJ area please let me know.
Any suggestions on what to look into and check to replace myself are needed.
thanks in advance
 



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I have read that it might be the "orafice tube" can anyone tell me how to get to it and clean it?
thanks
 






anyone? Need help ASAP have to take the car on another road trip, and the thought of no AC isnt appealing...
 






orfice tube is at the high side of the evaportor, you should just buy one to replace it. best to take it in and have a look at system pressures as to see for sure. and you will also have to pull the system down to do it
 






thanks so much for the response. So the whole system needs to be pulled down to replace just the tube? i cant just pull it out and replace it then huh? can the tube be replaced without discharging the system? Where should i be checking for condensation accumulation?
Thanks again for the help...gotta try to fix this tonight.
 






you will have to pull the whole system down. first you need to check pressure on the high side and low side. if the orfice tube is plugged the you will pull a vaccum on the low side and see high pressure on the high side. then you know its the orfice tube. the small line that goes from the condersor to the firewall wall well have a line nut at the connection at the firewall. you un do that and get a orfice tube puller and insert it and give it a little twist and pull it out. you may want to set aside a lot of time cuz 80 percent of the time these brake apart and you have to use a small needle nose plyers to grab the broken pieces. there are plastic. hope this helps. good luck
 






ah crap...that means more time than i have. I wish these things were simpler, like oh just replace that tube and you are done.
thanks for the help...i'll post up again if i have any problems.
 






I wouldn't jump to conclusions about your "orfice"....:) Anyways, its more than likely that you have lost some or all of your charge which a simple pressure check can verify. Of course, it won't tell you how you lost it but that "strange smell" might be a clue...:)
 






yea, i just took and came to the conclusion that i need to have her checked. The strange smell is kind of a sterile smell, like in a dentist office...
its very possible that the charge is gone, but what stikes me as odd is that it was fine the day before. In fact it was ice cold as usual.
I might try a quick charge kit and see if the clutch engages properly. then have it checked out at a local shop somewhere. Anyone know a good shop near Edgewater NJ?
 






just short your low pressure switch (actually the connector going to the switch). If your compressor stays on, then its most likely a charge problem although there are other reasons (clogged orfice for example). Anyways, don't run it like that too long as its not good for the compressor.
 






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