Bye bye AC condenser, what happened and what should I replace?

[HardTech]

So on my way home the Explorer which up to this point had been a good SUV decided well time for something to break, and cause problems.

The AC condenser froze up nicely. When I looked under the hood it was nice and red hot, the paint that’s on the little wheel was flaking off, and some was catching on fire, not to mention the entire belt was nice and smoky. (Seriously the black paint that was on the wheel was bubbling off or catching on fire because that whole unit was red hot, glowing red hot and it stayed that way for a good 5-10 mins in 23 degree weather)

Well it seems even when I turned off the defrost, it was still stuck, so I got real angry took the crowbar from my truck and made a nice whack at the AC unit (its toast anyways, what’s the harm). Anyways it finely goes to just free wheeling so the rest of the 23 degree weather home is uneventful if you call it that.

So the belt is fried, and the A/C condenser has to be replaced. Anything else I might as well check for.

What gets me there was no sign it was going out. No noise or anything. Now when you make it click on there’s a bad noise, it sounds as if the internal is coming apart and grinding. A very bad sound I must add. I never had one go out ever, is this typical they work fine going to work, the work fine in the first 10 mins them BAM! it goes out no warning.

All I knew I was traveling doing 70, and I hear a whine followed by smoke and lots of it. I figured if it was going bad something would have sounded off seeing how I had the defroster on this morning and nothing was wrong. Hell I was commenting on it this morning to a co-worker how nice the explorer has been.

So I guess the 4 questions I want to know out of this whole thing

What besides the belt and the A/C condenser needs to be replaced or looked at if any.

Secondly looking at rockauto the every the same things but with different accessories for a 95 ranging from $200-$330, which one?

Third, is this kind of sudden outage normal? (Yes as I found out from a few auto parts stores... I take it there not built as well as ones for house units )

Fourth, what may have caused the sudden freeze up?

 

[ExplorerDMB]

First off, that is your compressor. So make sure you hold off on going to the parts store an ordering a condensor which is the radiator like thing infront of your radiator for the a/c. Usually the bearings are what seize up. You should replace the belt and the compressor and check for any other problems. If no other problems, go ahead and replace.

-Drew

ps - I'd recommend taking it to a place to have it discharged properly so you wont get an eye full of chemical/freon or any a/c dye.

 

[Ford_Racing_Guy]

ps - I'd recommend taking it to a place to have it discharged properly so you wont get an eye full of chemical/freon or any a/c dye.

also do this to eliminate any moisture in the system that may cause the A/C to not work properly

 

[HardTech]

Yeah, it was 2am when I wrote it up, so a misplaced wording.

Well I have wanted to replace a few items anyways to help with the idle. So I am going to wait till this weekend for a check to go through.

So I just unpluged the unit. I figure this should not set off any codes because of the age of the car, but why not ask? (How ever I do know newer cars will set off a problem light, or at least the ones I have toyed with)

As for the Freon thing, well I think most has escaped if not all. Partly because it’s an oily mess today and it wasn’t yesterday.

So sadly this means the belt can’t be replaced this second as the local shop wants 40 bucks for it, yet its 25 online. The belt is still tight with no signs of weird wear. Granted I don’t really trust it for more than the 3 days ill be using it this week.

 

[JoeyDVDZ]

Just got my explorer over the weekend, and was running it, trying to juice up the battery, when I decided to check the heat. Bad idea. There came from the engine a strange howling sound, and after a few minutes a faint whisp of smoke was visible outside my truck. I smelled a nasty burning smell as well. Sure enough, my AC compressor was on fire. The clutch had frozen. I immediately turned off the truck (necessitating another jump start) and blew out the little flames that had just started to lick around the compressor. I then pulled the plug on the compressor and it seems to have taken care of the problem there (temporarily, anyway.)

Fun times!

 

[HardTech]

bad luck eh... I hope i didnt start a trend