A/C woes

[JGM]

Daughter has a '96 Protege (1.5L, stock, 120K). Yesterday upon start-up a cloud of smoke, no power steering. Accessory belt missing (eventually found in the engine well). The compressor is seized up (will grind out a half turn in either direction by hand). Local shop quoted $800+ to repair "unless it turns out to be just the clutch", heh. Rebuilt compressor with 90-day warranty is $225 at AutoZone.

Any experiences/ step-by-steps with changing this out or AC repairs in general on this car? Specifically it is not obvious how to install and tension the accessory belt, any help there?

I do have access to a freon evacuation and recharging setup. Where is the expansion valve, and how hard is it to change. Also the drier looks to be in an accessible spot, any gotchas there?

TIA

JGM

 

[mannydingo]

You can buy a compressor at the junkyard from a crashed car for cheap so call them. That has the risk of installing an already bad unit. The AutoZone one guarantees a good working unit but call every single auto parts place for their price. Also call places that repair the units. If it's just the clutch, you're in luck. Have that fixed and install it yourself. You just have to unbolt the metal lines that go in and out of the compressor and the bolts that hold it onto the bracket of the car. Go to the dealership and buy new O-ring seals. Do NOT skip that even if others have put back the old seals and had no problems. You may not have the same fortune. Since you stated you have access to A/C tools to replenish the freon, you're set.

P.S. Go back to your profile and add your city & state so it appears on all your posts.

 

[mannydingo]

By the way, since you have a 2nd gen. You may start experiencing belt squeal. (pissed) What does the word squelling mean?

 

[mannydingo]

Register date of July 2006? Yes, chances are good he will not be back.

 

[Salmon_Rob]

i use u

 

[JGM]

Register date of July 2006? Yes, chances are good he will not be back.

Ooh, ooh, here I am! Sorry for not replying sooner, this is a weekend project for me.

Thanks to you and others who responded. According to my junkyard guy, there are no used compressors of this type available anywhere in the USA. I'm ready to go ahead and order a rebuilt compressor from Autozone. I haven't been able to locate a local compressor rebuilder/repair outfit, but based on the grinding noise it is making when turned by hand, I don't think it's just the clutch? Is there a way to tell?

The mechanical replacement of the compressor looks fairly straightforward. Right now my biggest confusion is how to loosen the belt path to get the new belt on and then re-tension it. The Chilton's book talks about an adjusting bolt but I'm darned if I see it (then again, the Chilton's book doesn't seem to acknowledge the existence of the 1.5L engine in the first place).

thanks again

JGM

 

[mannydingo]

To remove the belt, you have to loosen the bolt that the power steering pump pivots forward and backward on under the pump. There's another bolt behind the pulley at about the 9 o'clock position to loosen. To get to it, you have to spin the pulley until the opening of the large pulley hole lets you reach it. That's done by quickly turning the car on and off so it spins. You will have to do try that several times. You also loosen the bolt that holds the tensioning bolt in place and then loosen the tensioning bolt whose head faces the front of the car. Some pictures would help. I will see what I can do. It's not hard.

 

[mannydingo]

And the more important thing about getting the Haynes manual is that you get PICTURES! Like the saying says: a picture says 1000 words. I've always used Haynes. I used to buy both the Haynes and the Chilton for the same car. Chilton has just a bit more info but includes too many models. Haynes has pictures and still does a great job of explaining but not as good as Chiltons. I would basically use the Haynes and if I found I needed more info, Chilton would have it or have a diagram that the Haynes didn't. If you buy only one, buy the Haynes. Don't let some of these "pros" tell you they're useless. They know so much about cars already that they don't get much out of them and act as if it will not help you. Nothing like another oppourtunity for a long-winded post, right?

 

[JGM]

To remove the belt, you have to loosen the bolt that the power steering pump pivots forward and backward on under the pump. There's another bolt behind the pulley at about the 9 o'clock position to loosen. To get to it, you have to spin the pulley until the opening of the large pulley hole lets you reach it. That's done by quickly turning the car on and off so it spins. You will have to do try that several times. You also loosen the bolt that holds the tensioning bolt in place and then loosen the tensioning bolt whose head faces the front of the car. Some pictures would help. I will see what I can do. It's not hard.

Thanks, this was really helpful.

The new compressor and drier are now installed; we'll see what kind of job I did when we get to the charging of the system.

A couple of notes on changing the compressor for future reference. Four long bolts hold the compressor in place. Two are best accessed from below and two from above. The job became much easier once I removed the passenger side headlight which allows easier access to the two top bolts. (It's a bit of a tricky headlight to remove, too, as you have to also take off the front grille and the side lamp to access all the bolts. Between this work on the front and removing all the lower access panels you wind up with a bunch of plastic and screws and bolts laying aside so take care not to lose or break anything). I took off the compressor first and then removed the fittings, which was probably a mistake since they were very tight and I didn't have much leverage. The bolts for the fittings are in a bit of an awkward spot but I'd recommend at least breaking them loose while the compressor is in place. Be sure to remove the electrical connection to the compressor before dropping it out or you'll risk breaking a wire. Reassembly is pretty straightforward -- install all four bolts in loosely before tightening any.

The rebuilt compressor came with new O-rings but only one was the correct size, so it's probably worthwhile to get the "real" rings from the dealer.

The new belt went on per Manny's guidance above. I loosened everything in sight on the PS pump, spun back the front bolt to allow the pump to pivot down, put on the belt, then reveresed the process.

Changing out the drier is easy -- it's in the driver side wheel well. You have to remove the plastic shield inside the wheel well (with a zillion of the plastic spin-clip thingies and a couple screws), then it's right there. Again, remove the fittings first while you have leverage.

JGM

 

[JGM]

I did have one more question:

Does anybody have access to the "official" prescribed amout/type of compressor oil and the refrigerant load for this system, or know how to get it? The manuals I've seen won't include this info.

Thanks

JGM