I just had my evaporator coil replaced in my 98 Cherokee. My mechanic says after about an hour of A/C use, my compressor's clutch coil shorts out and has to cool down so A/C is going to come and go on long trips.

I am taking a long drive Thursday thru the desert and wonder if there is a circumvention or way of bypassing the coil without damaging anything else just to keep my passengers cool.

If I buy a new one, I have to pull the clutch off the compressor, right? to replace the coil? can I mount a new one external to the clutch?

Thanks,
Joe

 

Cheapest and easiest route is to get a whole new clutch from a junk yard. Removing the cluch is a little involved and requires special tools. Your gonna have to have the ac system discharged and recharged when done. Oh btw a whole new compressor is cheaper than a new clutch if you go that route.

 

One can find a new coil assembly and the tools on ebay for about 85 total but I didn't have the time to wait. BTW, one does not need to recharge the system if you take this approach.

I bought a rebuilt compressor from the local parts store for 200 and slapped it on , added some oil and recharged. Works great! Happy Labor day to all!

Joe

 

Dont buy a used part in the junk yard, buy a reman compressor or new compressor and save you the headach of replacing that used part after it fails.
Buy the compressor that comes with a new clutch too.

 

You can get a reman compressor for 160 at kragen or autozone, but make sure you put the same amount of refer oil in the compressor that you drain out of the old compressor, and if the old compressor does not drain any oil out of it the smart rule is look in the manual, what year is your ride and is it a r-12 or 134a freon car.
r-12 was last used in 1993 and 94 was the first year for 134a.
You can convert a r-12 car to 134a but you will have to flush the lines of all mineral oil and add pag oil to every componet in the air conditioing system.
It is a lot easier than it sounds.
Here is the rule of thumb on cherokee air conditioning systems, the condensor will take 1 ounce of pag the evaporator will take 1 ounce and the receiver drier or accumaltor will take 1 ounce of pag oil, and the compressor will take about 2 to 4 ounces, but make sure of the amounts, especially with the compressor, you can burn up a compressor with to much oil and to little.
Then suck it down with a air conditioning pump, check for leaks and refill with new freon. The gauges should hold vacuum for about 5 minutes without any drop in vacuum, that will say weather there are any leaks in the system.
Hope this has not scared you to much.