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97 buick lesabre charging ac problem

bm007 on Wed April 29, 2009 1:17 PM User is offline

Year: 97
Make: buick
Model: lesabre
Engine Size: 3.8
Refrigerant Type: 134a
Country of Origin: United States

ok i really appreciate any help. I changed the ac compressor on my 97 buick lesabre because the clutch was grinding and making noises otherwise ac was working perfectly fine. now after i had an "off the street mechanic" install the new compressor i try to charge it but it seems like as soon as the pipes get full it wont take any 134a anymore, not even 3 seconds and then pipes going to the compressor bust out,well at least it kinda explode or disconnect because of the pressure and i can hear it leaking. what could be the problem?i did turn the ac on when charging but at first it wont engage because there is no 134a in it at all then right before that happened it engaged for a second till it busted cause of the pressure. please help/ am i missing something?is the cpmpressor bad,which i dont see that happening..whatelse should i check on? thank you

mk378 on Wed April 29, 2009 1:28 PM User is offline

Has any sort of "stop leak" ever been used in this system? It sounds like your condenser may be stopped up. If stop leak has hardened in the lines, the entire system must be replaced. As in all the parts that touch refrigerant.

Once past that issue, there were several other major mistakes made that need to be avoided next time.

GM Tech on Wed April 29, 2009 2:29 PM User is offline

Your "ACE" mechanic probably got the manifold on crooked-or better yet- dropped a sealing washer off while installing-so double check what he did. Did it hold vacuum prior to charging?

So why change the compressor for a slight hissing scrapping noise? Did you forget to search here first? and find my cut and paste?

This sounds like classic v-5 clutch drag- the air gap has tightened and needs to be adjusted back to .020" . I have answered this several times- and usually see about 1 a week during the hot season. The noise is a scrapping/rattle only with a/c off- should see signs of metal shavings about the clutch hub. The fix is to borrow the installer/removal tool from autozone and back off the air gap a tad. This can be done on car, without removing compressor or refrigerant, and can even be done without removing the shaft nut since the nut does not bottom on the clutch drive. Pull back the plastic cover in wheel well to access

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The number one A/C diagnostic tool there is- is to know how much refrigerant is in the system- this can only be done by recovering and weighing the refrigerant!!
Just a thought.... 65% of A/C failures in my 3200 car diagnostic database (GM vehicles) are due to loss of refrigerant due to a leak......

Edited: Wed April 29, 2009 at 2:41 PM by GM Tech

bm007 on Wed April 29, 2009 3:11 PM User is offline

no stop leak were used...did put on new washers...
could the compressor be bad?

Chick on Wed April 29, 2009 4:31 PM User is offlineView users profile

"Off the street mechanics" are not always a good idea, especially when they don't know what happened.. Obviously he can turn a wrench but knows nothing about AC repair, spend the money and bring it to someone who does know AC repair before someone is hurt!.. without seeing the car, I doubt the ac line burst, rather the lines to the compressor, as GM tech stated, are not tight, washer missing etc.. Also, we can't even guess if the manifold gauges were hooked up right, was a vacuum pulled, charged thru the right line etc etc.. just my two cents...

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Chick
Email: Chick

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