hey im new here just wanted to say hi and find out something that i hope is not common. On my way home from walmart which is about 45 miles one way by highway i started to smell burning 2 miles from home. I pulled into my drive way and a smoke bomb started from under the hood. Long story story short my ac compressor was on fire and my trusty garden hose saved the day.

 

opps i forgot to ask if anyone else has had this amazing experience

 

Do you mean the belt was burning up? If this is what you're talking about, I'd imagine the
clutch had locked up and friction between the belt & pulley is what you experienced but I'd
think you would have HEARD the problem well beforehand. The compressor itself is pretty
much all metal, there isn't much to burn.

Have any pictures?

 

Did you see actual flame, or did it just look like a lot of smoke? And what was your heater control set to at the time? The AC units have pressure relief valves in them that do produce a funny smell and what looks like a hellacious amount of smoke when they release, but it's really refrigerant vapor. If your truck was runnng hot and your heater control was set to defrost, it's possible you could have overpessurized.

 

Good chance the a/c clutch burnt up. Had that happen on other vehicles before. The coil shorts out and its flame on!

 

Im pretty sure it was the clutch plate cause there was definatly a flame and lots of smoke...it was set to defrost though and about halfway on the temp selector

 

If there was flame, it was the clutch.

 

Ya i firured cause i let it cool off before i pulled it into the garage and after i started it it squeled like a stuck pig...atleast i have an older truck that has one belt per acc. I was able to just unhook it and not have anymore problems