I'm think'n I need a new air conditioner compressor
 

I've had a "chirping" sound coming from the engine bay and it steadily got worse until now when sitting at the stop light (at idle) it is constantly chirp ping. I finally pulled off the engine cover from inside (behind the front seats) thinking it was a belt or idler pulley - only to find that the air conditioner compressor looked "abnormal" - meaning it has what looks like black hardened grease around the clutch piece and the clutch assembly is loose and very corroded. I'm thinking I need a new compressor - what are your thoughts? Are they hard to replace? Have you heard of compressors making that sound? Also, I don't use the AC much in my car (Seattle weather) - can it be replaced with just a pulley to save weight? What do guys in the spec Boxster race car class do? Thanks for your time - I guess I'm looking for a little reassurance.

you could just take it out and get a shorter belt. you will need to measure the difference. as far as the noise, just turn the A/C off does it still chirp? it could also be the power steering pump if fluid is low and or the water pump as all the pulleys including the belt tensioner and idler pulleys can make that noise. the way to find out is to remove the belt and turn each component individually and see if you can "feel" anything or get a movement from the shaft.

Thanks - that sounds like good advice. I will take the belt off and turn each pulley by hand to see if I can "feel" and play or resistance.

As harryrcb said, you can put in a shorter belt and bypass the a/c pulley if that's the problem. Finding a shorter belt should be easy. When I broke my belt, the chain auto parts store I went into had the belt numbers for both with and without a/c. My car is a spec racer now and the a/c compressor is removed. The belt number off my car probably won't help much though since I have a smaller crank pulley on the car now. If you're looking for a replacement compressor, or parts from one, let me know. My compressor is sitting in the garage.

You should be able to run the short belt bypassing the ac without removing the compressor if you're really lazy. All of the belt driven components can chirp when failing, but as a word of caution I have seen the compressor clutch completely fail, break off, and destroy the crank pulley...and that guy got lucky he wasn't buying a block. Also seen a belt wrap around the crank pulley and tear the nose of the crankshaft up- so address it quickly!

I just replace my compressor on my 99 and it was not hard at all. I would think with all your wet weather that A/C is a must to defrost the windows.

As for a compressor if you are tight I would look for an ac compressor off of a VW Passat. otherwise reman units go for about 250-300

I got a new compressor and am confused about the oil that is supposed to go into the system. Did you have to add any? Or does the compressor come sealed with all the oil needed? And ,where the heck do you dump it in? Thanks for your help! Joel

You're going to have to take it to a place that does automotive A/C work after you get the new compressor mounted. They need to put a vacuum on the system, then give it a fresh charge of refrigerant and compressor oil. The oil and refrigerant are always mixed together since they're both inside the same sealed system.

Sorry was not following this post but if you got a new or rebuilt compressor it will come pre-filled with oil. 134 oil will mix and pretty must stay air born in 134 when running as opposed to R12 that gets splashed around in the system. No need to add more oil when a new or rebuilt compressor is installed. I do recommend a new receiver drier as it is a filter for the system and it has a a drying agent to absorb any small amount of water vapor that may have got into the system that vacuuming could not remove

Where can you find a reman compressor at the 250-300$ mark. I'm seeing 480$ and up