AC Compressor shot
 

Ok so my AC compressor is grinding really bad.
I have a new one but do not have the knowledge or equipment needed to swap it out.
Is there anything I can temporarily do to possibly lessen the noise until I figure out how to get it fixed?
I don't even have AC as an option.
2000 xj sport 6cyl.

How can you have an ac compressor if you do not have ac as an option?

It's fairly easily to take out. Loosen the serpentine belt. Disconnect the wires from the compressor. Let the freon out (the legal way of course). Unscrew the ac lines. Lastly, remove the bolts holding the ac compressor on to the bracket.

There are bypass pulleys you can buy to eliminate the ac compressor.

See if you can remove the old one as outlined above. Put the new one in its place. That will take care of the grinding. Have it charged later.

People have mentioned that they have a real hard time locating the dummy pulley to replace the compressor.

I have no idea man. There is nothing on my console that specifically says "AC" besides the snowflake symbol on a few of the settings. No on/off button for AC at all.
But all the workings are under the hood.
I tried to just unplug the compressor currently installed but the noise is still there. So I'm assuming the bearings in the pulley are bad.

I appreciate any help. I have no idea what I'm doing. One shop I called quoted me at $450 even when I have the new part.
Seems a little pricey to me.

Lemme guess:

You had a leak.

You charged the system with cans from Autozone.

It continued to leak.

You charged it again.

Maybe you repeated this a few times.

Now the compressor is grinding.

Why?

Because it ain't got no oil in it.

Am I close?

The compressor requires an oil charge to continue to function. When you completely evacuate the system and refill, you have to include compressor oil with the refrigerant charge. When the R134a leaks out, so does some of the compressor oil. If you just refill repeatedly without starting again from scratch, eventually all the oil is gone, and the compressor makes a god-awful noise. Then you think the compressor is done for, when it actually may still work if you put some oil in it.

If you want to nurse it along for now, you need to get some oil into the compressor. The right way to do that is to pull a vacuum on the system and recharge with a can of R134a with compressor oil already in it. If you can't pull a vacuum on the system, you can try to get some oil into it by either using a can of refrigerant with an oil charge or by using a set of gauges and filling the gauge hose with compressor oil before attaching your refrigerant can. Neither solution is ideal, because you don't know if you're putting too much or not enough in there.

Bet that noise scared the crap out of you. :rofl:

Oh, also:

You don't have an "on/off button" for A/C. The center dial will have some blue settings on the left side of the circle and some white settings on the right. The blue settings are A/C. The white settings are vent (although if you turn it all the way to the right to defrost, that also will run the compressor to dry the air). The "off" position is the white circle all the way to the left side of the dial; everything else is "on."

Then of course you have two more dials, one on the left for fan speed and one on the right for the blend door (temperature control).

By the way, that compressor is probably only going to grind when you have it on A/C or defrost. You should still be able to use it on the white vent positions without hearing that terrible racket.

Hey man thanks for all the info.
I never did have a leak or had to do any replacements.
Basically where I live got hit with a string of cold weather and ever since then it's been making this noise.
Just recently it's gotten worse.

Then it may actually be a bad compressor. Just stay off the A/C for now.

$450 actually doesn't sound all that unreasonable if they're doing the work, even if you're providing the parts. To be able to do it yourself, you'd need a $160 vacuum pump and a $60 set of gauges, plus your time. They can charge that kind of price because most people don't have the tools or the expertise to do it themselves. You can call around and try to find a better deal, but you're going to pay no matter where you go. Just make sure you find a place with good reviews on line (and stay the hell away from Firestone unless you want to end up paying another $500 in repairs you don't need).

Even without enabling the A/C, your grinding noise is coming from the clutch bearings. They will eventually seize and fail, locking up the outer pulley and causing the belt to burn up quickly.

You will then loose all power assist and engine cooling.

It is not unusual to spend $1000-1500 in quality parts and labor to restore an A/C system properly when you are paying a shop to do it.

Not necessarily. When my compressor went low on oil, I ran it for over a year without any issues at all (other than not being able to use my A/C). In my case it wasn't the clutch making the noise. It was internal. As long as I left the A/C off, it didn't make a sound.

But you bring up a good question. Rat999Salad, is it grinding all the time, or only when the compressor is running? Does the grinding stop if you switch to vent only?

It grinds the entire time. I disconnected the wire and it's still grinding.

I think you have two problems here. It shouldn't be making noise, and it shouldn't be able to make noise with the A/C off. I'm wondering if the clutch is stuck for some reason, and the bearings are toast too. It can't be making internal noise without the clutch engaged. Am I correct in assuming that with the A/C on, you don't hear anything cycle on/off? If the clutch is operational at all, it won't be a constant noise. You can try the Jeremy Clarkson method and take a hammer to it. Be gentle though, and just tap on the compressor to see if the clutch releases.

Yea man that seems to be what's up.
I already got an entire new compressor from the junk yard so I'm probably just gonna get it swapped out and take care of it all at once.

One of these things is not like the other...

I hope it works out for you though. Cross your fingers that this compressor works.

Well, I stand thoroughly corrected.