during a trip yesterday, smoke started belowing from the front right hand side of the engine, when pulled over there was actually quite alot of smoke, after getting everyone out of the car just incase it was a fire, i carefully check under car for flames then opend the bonnet, the smoke was coming from the A/C compressor, and you could here it bubbling as it was really hot.

after waiting a while by the roadside it cooled down and stopped smokeing, however something was leaking as there was oily residue on the floor, it looked like it was coming from the same area as the compressor, so i think it's leaking, howeever after having to drive it home, and checking it again in the there was nothing on the floor, i can only assume that whatever is leaking has run out, also listening to the compressor, it's now sounds really rough...

I dont want to kill the engine, but i cant afford a new compressor, what should i do?

I'm going to have to sell the car anhow but cant sell it like that only for spares, unless i'ts still save to run the car with that damages if it is damaged.

anyone have any thoughts on this.

Ta Paul.

 

hi Paul sounds like the clutch on the ac pump nothing you can do but replace the unit or strip it down to see if its bearings.

should get a used unit for about £85.

Thanks

Mick

 

AC compressors are running very hot as it is and if they are left without lubrification, they can't last but for very short time. that lubricant is usually inside the refrigerant and if there was a leak somewhere, AC is gone dry.
usually, it doesn't leak liquid so I don't know about your leak.

but, rough work of AC compressor normaly means that it's dead and that you will need a new one.

 

ok, great.. hmm, what about usig a different belt to take the A/C unit out of the equastion until i can afford a new compressor? if so what belt cani use?

 

has anyone got a diagram of the routing for the fan belt ?

 

routing of the belt should be on the sticker above the radiator, with and without AC, if it's possible.
if not, remind me of your type and year and I will send you a picture.

you mean that, even you turn the AC off, the compressor is still running? it should go off.
if not, man, you have a problem.
either your way (new, shorter belt) or you have to take it to the shop, if they can disengage it on the clutch. if you keep driving like that, you may burn the compressor and the whole car.

 

ok so it's got to be either fixed or disengaged.

 

i didnt even have the A/C on when it started smoking, ofcourse the compressor still turns with the rest of the engine, but i did not have the a/c on, i had normal heating on to demist the windows, as i had a full car.

 

regardless
if you had defrost option (air drying the winshield), system automatically turns AC on.

the only way you can tell that AC compressor is ON, is from the grinding noise comming out of it. becouse the outer part, where the belt drives it, is only a clutch. that clutch spins all the time, together woith the engine.
it's only when it gets the signal, it engages drive to the compressor.

 

I know this is an old thread, but my wife and I picked up a used 08 T&C in fall of '09. It had been running well until about 2 weeks ago when the wife took it in for the drain tube grommet recall. She also had an oil change done at the same time. As simple as they were saying the recall job was, they also said it would take about 2.5 hours to do, which really confused me. ANYWAY, an hour after driving off the dealership lot, the A/C dies. I got a chance to look at it shortly thereafter and did hear the compressor clicking on for a while, but after a day or so I heard it no more, until I put a half a can of 134a in the system, which had no effect on A/C cooling, but which produced a very distinguishable "hissing" coming from the system. I couldn't pinpoint the source of the sound, and couldn't feel any cold air anywhere around the lines. The hissing would increase when the compressor would kick on, and would subside (3-5 seconds) after turning it off. A day later, the comp. didn't kick on anymore.


FAST FORWARD TO THIS MORNING


The wife is driving to class, about a half hour south of where I work, and calls to say that "the engine is smoking". She was saying that she had the A/C switched "on" at the time (compressor still doesn't kick on) to get some air flow before it happened. I suspect right off the bat that it's related to the A/C issues we've been having. All she could tell me was that the smoke was coming from the front of the motor. First thought from this was that the thermostat had crapped and wasn't allowing the fluid to cycle through, but could my problem be similar to the original poster's problem? The difference is that our compressor does not come on.


Any thoughts and/or advice are appreciated!