07 Mazda 5 AC Compressor Leaking Oil....still ok to drive?

[MazdaMama16]

About a week ago, there was a noise in the AC fans (sounded like something was caught and the fan was hitting it) Turned it off and once it was daylight, pulled the cabin air filters out and noticed there was fluff caught all in there. Come to find out it was the lining of the engine cover that somehow got sucked in there. I pulled it all out, changed the cabin air filters and it worked great.....for exactly a week. My husband was driving it to work and noticed the air wasn't cold anymore so he turned it off. We checked the fuses, the relay, and nothing would help the compressor even kick on. We finally got under there to realize that it was leaking ac compressor oil. I'm assuming i have to replace the entire compressor since it most likely is shot but in the meantime, is it ok that I drive the car? I know it has a separate belt that controls the AC Comp. so I assume that would mean it would be fine to drive, of course without using the ac. Thanks!

 

[Davicho]

About a week ago, there was a noise in the AC fans (sounded like something was caught and the fan was hitting it) Turned it off and once it was daylight, pulled the cabin air filters out and noticed there was fluff caught all in there. Come to find out it was the lining of the engine cover that somehow got sucked in there. I pulled it all out, changed the cabin air filters and it worked great.....for exactly a week. My husband was driving it to work and noticed the air wasn't cold anymore so he turned it off. We checked the fuses, the relay, and nothing would help the compressor even kick on. We finally got under there to realize that it was leaking ac compressor oil. I'm assuming i have to replace the entire compressor since it most likely is shot but in the meantime, is it ok that I drive the car? I know it has a separate belt that controls the AC Comp. so I assume that would mean it would be fine to drive, of course without using the ac. Thanks!

Welcome, yes you should be fine to use your MZ5 and yes definitely without turning on your AC.

 

[thaxman]

AC compressors have a clutch that prevents the compressor from spinning even if the belt is turning whenever the AC is not on. As long as the clutch is still functional, you will be OK. Remember that the defrost function turns on the compressor in order to remove moisture from the air, so don't turn that on either.

 

[flcruising]

Keep it on face vent - windshield, feet, and a combination of the two tries to run the compressor. Better yet, cut the belt off the a/c compressor. It's a stretch belt anyways so you will have to do it eventually when you have the compressor replaced.