alright so my 98 xjs a/c did not work. long story short went to a shop they found the compressor to be bad had a spare in the trunk. what happens now is that when i turn on my a/c it squeals only occasionaly sometimes it doesn't do it at all, some times it does but only for a few mins. whats going on here? i was told the belt could be to blame (belt has 13,000 miles on it), or the compressor (i had the compressor in a cardboard box in the back of my jeep)
somebody please help!!!

also my tailgate jsut jammed shut the other day the entire time i've owned this jeep i could tell that the tailgate would fail at one point just the way it felt when it opened any ideas on how to fix it i really need to get it open
thanks

 

If I am not mistaken, the ac compressor has a series of clutches on the pulley to allow it to turn off and on while the motor is running. Your squeling could be those clutches slipping. As far as your tailgate, not too sure. Good Luck!!

 

It's probably your serpentine belt. Loosen the front bolt on the idler pulley, and tighten the adjuster bolt, then tighten the idler pulley's front bolt. It's hard to guess how tight, give it about five full turns and see if it still squeeks. Serpentine belts are notorious for squeeking if not at the right tension...it's only one belt for all.

 

My belt had to be real tight before it stopped squeeking, put a new on when I did the a/c.

 

I remember seeing a thread about this a couple weeks back. if you cannot open your back tailgate, get the latch assembly as cold as you can. ice, dry ice and try to open it then. i will try to search for that thread and link it here

 

My 98 XJ's AC has also failed (no cool).... and when it was running last summer, it would also occasionally make a racket that sounded like a whine/squeal that seemed to be associated with the fan (or so I thought).

Since last August: No more squeal, but also no more cool air.

Maybe there's something similar going on here.

 

Got It. no ice, use can of compressed air like keyboard cleaner upside down.

https://www.cherokeeforum.com/showth...light=tailgate

 

I've seen compressors seize up and have had to cut the belt in order to run everything else since even the clutch got stuck...not on the jeep since it's only one belt. Problem is when replacing compressors, the right amount of oil has to be in the system and unless you flush the entire system, it is hard to judge how much should be in it. New and rebuilt compressors come with oil in them, but I still put a little bit more during vacuuming.

 

the oil is made into the freon... if you put the right amount of freon... then u have the right of oil... if you run out of freon due to a leak then youve also ran out of oil and your gonna blow up your compressor... your case sounds like its just a loose or bad belt... take the belt off and spin the compressor... make sure it spins freely and look for any metal dust around it... if its good replace the belt and install pretty dang tight... if its alittle too tight its ok cause the belts rubber... itll stretch anyway...

to the other guy with ac problems... stick a gauge on your ac and see if you have any freon left... if not refill it with some stuff with stop leak in it till its got the proper amount... this can only be done if the freon sensor is sensing some type of fluid or else it will not kick the compressor on... in this case you will have to take it to a shop where they can hold a vaccum on it and do it right... if it leaks out again then your looking at rebuilding the system... goodluck!

 

with the tailgate... have someone stand on the outside pulling on it while pushing the button... then u get on the inside and with both feet... kick the ***** out of it... if it opens then good... find out whats wrong and dont let it close... if not then youll have to take plastic all off and look down in there and see what u can do...

 

Its also possible it is the bearing inside the clutch. I had the same problem and had the bearing changed at an Automotive A/C shop and no problems since.

 

Mine got stuck a couple times and a good bang on the latch did the trick for me... after that i lubed it up with white lithium grease and never had the problem again...