Auto Air Conditioning & Heater Repair: air conditioning compressor cuts engin at idol, mitsubishi eclipse gt, mitsubishi eclipse

Question
i have a 2000 mitsubishi eclipse gt(automatic...sorry, lol). recently, the light for my a/c began flashing constantly. i decided to keep a close eye on the problem. the very next day when i started my car to warm it up and turned the defrost on to clear the windows, the rpm sudenly shot up to 5000, there was a screach and the engine cut out.i did a little research and the best i can come up with is that the compressor or the compressor clutch is buggered. i looked up prices and found that the fix will cost aprox. 1500 canadian, so for now i just pulled the fuse for the a/c. but that really is only a temporary fix. can you give me any ideas as to what to do and mabey some resourses that will enable me to do the job myself. thanks in advance.

Answer
What has most likely happened is that the compressor has seixed up internally. But a proper hands on diagnosis needs to be made first. From your costs that you stated this would be about right for a new compressor as well as the labor and other parts.

Unless you have the SPECIAL EQUIPMENT and expertise to work with A/C doing it yoursel is NOT an option.

Here are some of what needs to be done:

1. Remove the compressor from the vehicle.

2. Remove the receiver/dryer (accumulator)

3. remove the expansion valve (tube). Requires special tool.

4. Flush out the entire A/C system. Requires special tools.

5. Install a new compressor.

6. Install a new expansion valve.

7. Install a new receiver/dryer (accumulator).

8. Evacuate all the air from the A/C system. Requires a
  vacuum pump and a set of A/C gages.

9. Install new regrigerant (freon) oil in the correct
  amount.

10. Install new refrigerant (freon) in the correct amount.

11. test the system for leaks. Requires special equipment.


Not a job for a novice or anyone who does not have A/C expertise and the equipment to do the job correctly.


I do not have a staff of people helping me answer your questions, I do it all by my self, Therefore, Due to being retired and a 15 year old computer on a dial-up connection, I do my best to respond to questions within 3 to 4 hours due to the volume of questions I receive on a daily basis. If you require a faster response you can e-mail me directly at the below e-mail address as I check it more frequently.:

meperganfortis@msn.com
semi-retired in New Mexico

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