Monday, May 24, 2010

How do you "unfreeze" an a/c compressor?

I have two Ford Taurus's, one is a '99 the other is a '91, in both of them, the A/C compressor has frozen up and keep on destroying belts. How can I un-freeze the compressor, and keep these things running?

How do you "unfreeze" an a/c compressor?
You cannot unfreeze them!!! They froze up because they were defective. The reason that they jam and stop turning is that as they wear out the particles and gray looking gunk in the compressor grinds off and flows through the entire ac system returning back to the compressor where it binds it up and stops it. This is actually known in the auto trade as the "gray death" on Fords as if you remove the lines and flush the system you get a slimy gray gunk out of it that I have been told is the material from the compressor rings and the swash plate that moves the pistons. Ford is the worse for this because of some wierd way they build their compressors. Not just a compressor change you have to remove all the hoses from the condensor and evaporator and flush all of the hoses and condensor and evaporator and also replace the drier and orifice tube or hose and tube as some Ford models have the tube installed permanently in the hiigh side line near the condensor. If you don't what will happen is that the new shiny compressor will soon fill up with the gray gunk left in the system from the old bad compressor and ruin it in often a matter of days or hours. If you return a new compressor with this gray stuff in it they don't have to warranty it as they know immediately that you did NOT do what they recommend in flushing the system. Takes about a half gallon of special flush solvent to do this blown out with compressed air and sometimes more. One of the reasons that Ac work has become so expensive on cars nowdays is that you have to do so much more to make them work than you used to. All the older cars with the big compressors in the 60's and 70's had oil reservoirs in them that kept them lubricated. This problem did not occur on them as you could just replace the compressor and drier and recharge. It is when they made the compressors smaller and lighter they did away with the oil reservoir and make the compressor depend on lubrication flowing through the system to keep it going. This is a self-defeating system as once the compressor starts to go bad the dirt from it can plug the orifice tube or expansion vale and slow down the flow of freon. This also starves the compressor for oil and makes it wear that much faster which increases the gunk in the system etc. Do the job right the first time and you will save a ton of trouble and money in the long run. Refrigerant alone is so expensive nowdays to replace each time you have to open the system to fix something that should have been done the first time. Fortunately rebuilt compressors for your vehicle are not that terribly expensive, nor are the rest of the parts. You are luckier than some as some of the very new cars can't be done without actually replacing the condensor at the same time as it is designed in such as way that it won't flush out the dirt. Boy for the good ole days on AC!!! :-)
Reply:....................... cannot do any thing ............ show the workshop ....
Reply:u need to have them rebuilt


buy a belt that is smaller where u can eliminate the ac pump till u can repair or replace pump
Reply:Replace the compressor.


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