Howdy,

About 5 years ago I had a similar thing happen with my 94 GMC Suburban when it had about 150,000 miles on it. (it's at 203,000 now) .

I was cruising down the road at about 60mph and there was a loud squeal under the hood. I immediately turned the key off, coasted to a stop and looked under the hood. I suspected the A/C compressor when I couldn't turn it by hand so I restarted and tried it again with the same result.

I ordered a rebuilt compressor from Autozone for about $160, + a "flush kit", orifice kit and a filter drier + 4 or 5 cans of R-134.

The Suburban is unique in that it has rear air and heat. The refrigerant lines "Y" to supply both with one compressor.

Just because the compressor "locked" up, doesn't necessarily mean it's "grenaded" and has deposited debris throughout the system but it could.........so you MUST flush the system using the approved R-134 solvent and you must replace the orifice/filter along with a new "filter-drier".

It took me about "day" to do the job. If you pay someone to do it, it'll be at least $1500-2000 because they'll likely charge you full retail for the pump, filter/drier, refrigerant/recovery etc and about $80-100/hr for labor. I didn't replace my condenser and I didn't have any contamination at all. If there's any question about the condenser I wouldn't hesitate to replace it.

They're not all that expensive in comparison to the total cost of this repair.


Sorry about that.


Rick

 

Guys I really appreciate your alls feed back.. Seems like I have alot of scenerious to look into.. I'm not a big hurry, but I do need to do my homework.. My problem is I dont have the gauges or fitting to evacuate, or add freon.. So I guess its time to look into that..

 

If you don't know what you are doing it will be cheaper to pay a shop and get a 1 year warranty.

 

You make a valid point, I think thats the way i'm going to go.. I would hate to mess it up and have to do it again.. Sometimes a warranty is worth the piece of mind..

 

very true and good point. if you don't what your doing and don't have the right tools it might be better to let a shop do it.. might be cheaper in the long run and less headaches..

 

Its ashame, I dont live closer to Anthoney.. I would see what he would charge me... But on that note, wonder how many miles he got out of his compressor?

 

It's not only miles but run time period. Every mechanical device has a life span. Compressors can be running when the truck is idling for long periods of time and therefore mileage is less of a factor. Even in cold climates the a/c system should be run periodicly to circulate the oil in the system to the seals. It's a different type system than the hermetically sealed compressors in your house or business.

 

I've been doing a bunch of ac work lately. My mirror wholesaler offers lifetime warranty parts on ac. I've been busy with them. I actually keep a whole setup on the shelf. I think it's about 1600 to replace everything BUT the lines. Evap and cond also. I sure do wish I could be close to everywhere. Lol

When in doubt,, replace it all. I've got a video I sent to the last customer. Gimme a sec

 

Here it is.


I stay in contact with customers and have a bunch of these videos of damage n stuff. Lol

 

Nasty stuff Anthony. Don't think I've come across one that bad. No one out here that I know of, in my neck of the woods anyway, are giving lifetimes on a/c stuff anymore. The retailers vary between 90 days and 1 year depending on the parts you buy.

 

Wow!!! Thats alot of destruction?? I watched alot of your youtube videos last night while I was working midnight!! I was watching the ones of the crash, and it turned my stomache for sure..

 

Have you checked the belt tensioner? I had the same belt squealing with the AC turned on, ordered all of the AC parts (compressor, orifice tube, accumulator, all from Rockauto.com) and when I went to break in to the system I found the tensioner locked up.
Got a deal on one thru Advance Auto (45.00) and a new belt and it is still operating today with no issues...

 

Does the advance auto tensioner have the kickstand?? I know the Oreillys one doesn't. I go ford only for tensioners just because of the kickstand.

 

The one I got from Advance had the "kick stand"

 

Ugh!! that's a BAD one! It appears that it was slowly self destructing before it failed completely!

When mine 'locked' up, it was working fine up to that point.

I suspect it had a catastrophic mechanical failure that was (luckily) NOT on the pressurized side of things...

Nevertheless, all the pump rebuilder/reman people will not warrent their pumps if you don't flush and replace orifice tube/filters & filter driers