Hi Scotty, I have a 1995 Ford contour gl with a 2.0l engine I changed my radiator last week and while driving I notice my car was smoking which was coming from my A/C compressor I just bought one for $200 my problem is I can’t excess the compressor due to my frame being in the way. What should I do? Also have no way of draining the freon any tips would be greatly accepting thank you
The pulley is clutched! If clutch is good and not activated the pulley will spin. Doesnt mean compressor isnt locked. Electrically engage clutch and see if you can turn by hand. If its all still hooked up, have someone start it, then engage AC and look at compressor, if belt is slipping/smoking along the AC pulley then its surely locked up
If no one here chimes in with personal experience doing the job on that car, you might want to ask on a Contour enthusiast site. (There seems to be a site dedicated to almost any vehicle!)
http://www.contour.org/ceg-vb/
Beyond that, if your compressor locked up you are unfortunately looking at having to replace any part of the AC system that cannot be flushed out. That would include the drier and expansion valve or orifice tube (no big deal), and also any parallel-flow components such as the condenser and possibly the evaporator. When compressors lock up they invariably shed lots of debris internally and if any is left in there it will ultimately destroy the new compressor.
Is it locked up if the pulley still turns?
Make sure you're rotating the crank on the compressor, not the freewheeling clutch pulley which will turn freely when the clutch is not engaged. Typically you need to turn the inside part of the clutch assembly to actually check if the compressor is locked up, the part labeled "clutch plate" in this exploded view:
My clutch is officially locked up now haven’t had a chance to change the compressor yet, I was just wondering what would happen if I kept driving with it locked up?
Assuming the pulley spins freely when the clutch is disengaged you should be OK driving. Maybe disconnect the wire to the clutch coil. Problem is that if the compressor locked up it it has probably contaminated the AC system with debris and you have to replace pretty much everything or the new compressor may be destroyed in short order.
Check and see if there is a serpentine belt for it W/O AC, put one on until you can get the compressor swapped.
R.I.P AC. Unless you know a guy to fully flush out your AC and replace parts that @Chuck Tobias mentions, then your AC is gone for the car. Since your car also be a 1995, they are probably going to recommend the new freon conversation (EPA laws and whatnot if you are in a state that cares) since you need to replace stuff anyway. Quite an expensive endeavor as well. Wish you luck.
Pulley isn’t spinning freely anymore that’s what is locked up, already knew I had to replace the compressor but not the whole pulley is locked up as well
And I live in Canada so not sure what our laws are on switching out the type of refrigerant
Sorry I was wrong the pulley is still moving just the clutch plate has stopped vibrating
Yeah, afraid your compressor failed internally. For a proper repair everything that can't be flushed out has to be replaced. On R134a AC systems the condenser and evaporator are usually parallel-flow and cannot be successfully flushed. By 1995 most if not all cars sold in the U.S. were using R134a refrigerant.
Like I said you can still drive the car if the pulley is spinning freely but don't turn on the AC compressor. I'd disconnect the clutch coil wire to be on the safe side.
Thanks so much, a mechanic said I should be fine if I change my accumulator/receiver dryer due to it having some kind of filter in it so hopefully that’s all
Luckily it wasn’t too expensive
I’m keen on being a mechanic myself but this was just something I had no idea how to do and I didn’t have the tools for the job
I guess you can give it a try, yes the accumulator/drier does incorporate a filter but the amount of nasty shards of metal that may be floating around inside that system might be more than it can handle. Chances are the expansion valve or orifice tube may already be plugged up. (For what it's worth this is what I learned about compressor failure from a long-time friend who was a master automotive A/C technician for over 40 years.)
If you're feeling lucky have the mechanic flush things out as much as possible and pray. Don't be surprised though if the new compressor does fail pretty quickly and/or there's no cooling due to clogged expansion valve or orifice tube. In fact you'll probably find the warranty on the new compressor requires replacing those parts in order to be valid. You're rolling the dice and they may come up snake eyes, but if lucky you may roll a natural. (If it was me I'd replace everything but my evaporator and expansion valve are under the hood, not behind the dashboard requiring a ridiculous amount of labor to access.)
Well hopefully it will work and last but thank you all for the advice wish me luck lol
Hey, sometimes a person can get lucky, it's been known to happen. Let us know how it works out.