QuestionQUESTION: I have a 92 Pontiac Bonneville V6. AC compressor seems to stop for a fraction of
sec and then goes on. High squeaky noise, not too loud, not grinding metal
noise. I 1st noticed this a few days ago when driving down the highway AC
started to blow hot air. Do I need to have compressor replaced? Could it be
something else causing the compressor to stop, something electric maybe? Can
the compressor be "cancelled", like with a shorter belt or something?
ANSWER: Hey Luis:
Well without hearing it It's hard to say if you have an actual compressor concern or a refrigerant system that's just low on a charge. The clutch on those compressors do do bad and they make a high pitched ringing noise or Rattle/grind noise. that can be replaced by it's self with out replacing the compressor. the stopping and starting is a hint that it's low on a charge a rapid cycling of the compressor would indicate either a high pressure issue in the system "not likely" but rather the system is low on a charge when that compressor/system is low the compressor will make more of a growling noise due to the lack of gas flowing through the compressor. there is not much you can do with it right now that has an r-12 system on it and you can't by that gas anymore it contributes to global warming. that would have to be evacuated by a professional service technician that's certified to do so and then retrofitted to a r134A gas system and dye added to the system to help pinpoint the source of the leak. The 134A in your car will make that a/c system work less efficient then the r-12 but there is not much you can do about it. 2 sources for a leak on that car were common were the evaporator core and the condenser both were known to go bad. If you a do it your selfer the condenser is do able but not the evap core. As for the second part of your question no it can't be bypassed that car came equipped with A/C wether it was a base model or an SSE model so the belt is meant to go around the everything. if you have no noise at all when the compressor is off you can just disable the a/c system by unplugging the cycling switch on the accumulator. Good luck :) hope this helped...
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QUESTION: Thanks a lot for your advice!
The AC is cooling now, it did blow hot air a few days ago, when driving down the interstate, but now is cooling fine. When I turn AC off noise still present, and it looks like the pulley stops for a sec and then goes on.
Any advice???
AnswerYou lost me..... how does this cool while in stop and go traffic? what type of noise is it? rumble/growl, rattle/ringing type noise? If it's there when you turn off the a/c it could still be in the clutch or it could be the bearing in the hub "pulley" part of the compressor. I don't understand why it wasn't working and now it is?? The cycling of the clutch like I stated before is normal but a fast cycling is not. meaning it runs for 30 seconds and shuts of for 10 and on and on. Normally it will turn on for an extended amount of time and be off for a short period of time if the system is fully charged. One last thing does the cooling fan for the radiator come on when the a/c is on? good luck :)
