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2008 AC compressor wont engage

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#21 ·
Ed2013 said:
First thing I like to do is measure the high / low side pressures to see if your Freon levels are ok. If they are low the compressor can cycle. It’s an easy test if you have the gauges. If you don’t, hopefully you know someone who does. It‘s sure cheaper then replacing parts.
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If the compressor is not running the high and low pressure will be the same.
 
#22 ·
You cannot measure how much refrigerant is in the system through pressure. You can, however, see if there's enough to turn the compressor on.
 
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#25 ·
PhotoTek said:
After some testing and YouTubing, I think I have a compressor clutch that is going out. The issue has been hit and miss, until today. Now it's more miss than hit. After sitting for an hour or two, I went out and started the car, and the AC will cycle on and off with the AC switch.

Does anyone have another theory?

Has anyone replaced the clutch and can tell me the ins and outs of that process?

Thanks in advance.
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Yup. Done that twice. It's not hard at all. Check out the a/c clutch replacement video by "Eric the car guy".
 
#26 ·
Ed2013 said:
First thing I like to do is measure the high / low side pressures to see if your Freon levels are ok. If they are low the compressor can cycle. It’s an easy test if you have the gauges. If you don’t, hopefully you know someone who does. It‘s sure cheaper then replacing parts.
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As Wiimaster said, the proper fill or charge of refrigerant is based on mass not pressure. The pressure gauges are mostly useless for this situation.
 
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#27 · (Edited)
Well, looks like i got my answer. I’ve come across a few threads where people have replaced a clutch or coil more than once. This compressor has given me and the previous owner 189k miles of service. Maybe the new compressor will give me another 189k.


Edit::::::
I installed 3 new relays and the compressor still didn’t turn on. The new one will be in on Monday. I wonder how much they’ll charge me to evacuate everything in my system [emoji848]
 
#28 ·
Aye_+ said:
Well, looks like i got my answer. I’ve come across a few threads where people have replaced a clutch or coil more than once. This compressor has given me and the previous owner 189k miles of service. Maybe the new compressor will give me another 189k.


Edit::::::
I installed 3 new relays and the compressor still didn’t turn on. The new one will be in on Monday. I wonder how much they’ll charge me to evacuate everything in my system [emoji848]
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Do this first for me: check if your radiator fans are running when the AC is on, and check if the compressor is engaged. If the fans are running and the compressor is not engaged, it means the system is trying to engage the compressor but fails. The manual points to a clutch/coil issue if this happens.

Before replacing the compressor (which means evacuating and recharging) I would check the clutch gap and the coil. Both are easy to do. There are detailed threads on how to do both, but to check the coil you remove the clutch relay and measure the resistance between the stator terminal and ground - it should be about 4 ohms. There are two big terminals at the relay, one is always at 12V (regardless of the ignition switch position) and the other goes to the stator. If this checks out, then check the clutch gap. You best do this with a feeler gauge and the engine off, but you can also do the following: with the engine running, AC on but the compressor not engaged, use a long screwdriver to CAREFULLY push the clutch plate in, towards the compressor. If your coil is good it should engage, and if it does, your clutch gap is too wide. Lots of moving parts there, so be careful. If you rather test with the engine off, then jump the 12V and stator terminals after removing the relay before you push the clutch in.

If it's a coil/clutch issue, both can be replaced with the compressor on the car (no evacuation). I just did this, after reading some extremely useful threads on this forum. Let us know how it goes.
 
#33 ·
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WiiMaster
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