Smoking engine when A/C is on

[Mustangman66]

So on Thursday i had my car idling at the curb while i was loading something into it, and i noticed a little smoke coming out from underneath the hood, so i popped the hood and low and behold the damn thing was smoking, i fiddled with it for a while but couldn't decide what it was...

then a helpful gentleman came up and suggested that i try turning off the AC, and as soon as i did, the smoke stopped...

he said it could either be that the compressor was locked up or that it was low on Freon (i know its not actually freon they use in cars but i don't know the proper name)

any thoughts on this?

just to clarify,

the smoke was coming from the front of the engine toward the bottom end, 4.0 soch, 98K miles, 2003 Explorer...

if anyone has any insight on what may be causing this or has experienced this problem before, please let me know.

 

[eokie1]

Bad A/C compressor ?? Have you figured this out, yet ??
I would try taking off the serpentine belt (just need a 15mm? (not sure on size) socket on a 3/8" ratchet, to remove it), then see if the CENTER of the a/c compressor turns easily, or if not, then it would indicate the Compressor is BAD....if so, you will need to replace it, and the a/c Accumulator, at a minimum, and the entire a/c system needs flushed out, as part of the replacement.