So I've been battling my a/c compressor for weeks now and figured I would finally see if someone here could help. I've searched around but can't find anything about this specific problem and my mechanic seems to be at a loss.

At first, it seemed that my refrigerant was just low. My mechanic refilled it and it worked temporarily, but ever since then it seems that my compressor will just decide to not turn on sometimes, which makes it more difficult for my mechanic to fix it because half the time I take it to him it works perfectly.

It seems that if I let it sit overnight, it will work the first time I start it, but if I restart it, the compressor won't turn on again unless I let it sit for hours.

I don't know much about the technical aspects but I've known my mechanic my whole life and I trust him when he says he can't find any leaks and his diagnostics aren't coming back with any errors. Hopefully someone here knows what's going on since I'm driving it across country in a few days

 

The clutch pulley could also be not engaging

 

How could I check or fix that? I've just been driving it around and it seems to now be turning on and off even as the engine runs

 

There's a video on YouTube but I'll explain quickly as this happened to me. This is only a "temporary fix" because the clutch will eventuality stop working.

You need to remove the compressor clutch pulley. There is a thin shim you can remove then put the pulley back on.

I did this about two years ago and it's still working. Your results may vary.