hi i searched but found nothing similar, there is a really weird noise coming from the crank/ac compresor belt area, its a rattly screechy noise sounds kinda like a small tamborine shaking really fast. i thought it was coming from the power steering pump so i disconected that but still makes it. i sprayed some silicone lube where it sounded like it was coming from and that didnt help, the noise comes and goes but its there most the time, started 2 days ago after i got on it through the gears once. any ideas? TIA

 

anyone?

 

It's your AC compressor. Time to freak out!.. J/K.. Same thing happened to me and no one here had any clue on what it was. But here's what I found out from my experience. The reason why it was making a noise was because there's too much oil in the compressor. So you'll have to drain the compressor and let out all the oil and refrigerant. After that, you have to refill the compressor with refrigerant. You shouldn't have to add any more oil since there should be enough left over. That's my two cents.. Hope it helps!

 

true, thanks. it does sound like its coming from the compressor. will it hurt the motor to run it like this? also i've never heard of refrigerant?

 

Well.. I don't know about Florida. But here in Minnesota they allow us to buy refrigerant for our AC compressors. Refrigerant is pretty much the stuff that makes cold air for your car. The compressor needs that to work. But before doing this, see if the local parts store (or Walmart, I get my stuff there too) sells an AC refill kit and refrigerant. If they're not allowed to sell it, you're pretty much out of luck. But let's hope not. Anyways, you need to buy the refill hose which has a valve tap on both sides. One side will have a stick that you can twist. It should cost something around 5 or 6 dollars. Next you need to buy the refrigerant. I believe they're little 4oz bottles. On the side of the bottle it'll say "R-134a Refrigerant". You'll need two bottles, should cost around 4.50 a bottle.

Then when you get home. Start your car and turn the AC on with the fan set to the highest setting. Take the refill hose and spin the stick on top so that closes tight. Now the refill hose and plug the side without the stick into the AC low pressure hose valve. It should be located right behind the radiator and the hood latch. You can't miss it, you'll see that the hose is coming straight from the AC compressor. Now take a towel and wrap it around the other end of the hose where the screw top is. Then release the pressure by unscrewing the stick. Let it all come out until there's no pressure left. Then when it's done. Take a bottle of the refrigerant and screw it onto the bottom of the hose where you let the old refrigerant out. Make sure it's screwed on tight. Now twist the stick into the bottle until it goes all the way in. And now untwist the stick so that the refrigerant is allowed to escape from the bottle. Hold the bottle upside down until it runs out. I usually leave it there for a good 5 or 6 minutes. After that, screw the stick back in and let the car run for another 5 mintues and put in the other bottle. Be careful when you take the bottle off, if there's any refrigerant left, the can will shoot out of your hands! Hope this helps..

 

damn, i'm a little confused. i dont think they sell freon (refrigerant) here for public use. I may have to pay the damn mechanic 60 an hour to do it for me but i'll try it myself first. thanks for the help

 

hmmm could remove compressor weight reduction?? but i guess that's unthinkable in Florida. Just cut a deal with a guy who works at Jiffy Lube to do the AC on the side cheaper then paying a mechanic.

 

Your car doesn't use freon (R-12), which is no longer made and requires a special license to buy or handle. All 3G Tegs use R-134a which is not harmful to the environment and should be available at auto parts stores.

But about the noise, I get something similar to that in my car when I first start it up, kinda of metallic squeeking noise or something. I think it's my alternator bearings, but I'm not sure. It seems to go away after the car runs for awhle. I need to record my car and rip it into mp3 so you all can tell me if it's the same sound that is being talked about here.


[Modified by PatrickGSR94, 4:08 PM 7/18/2002]

 

HOLY CRAP!!! PNX-R you are my freakin HerO!!!! I've had that freakin squeak squeak squeak from my a/c compressor and couldn't figure out what it was (and too cheap to take it to an A/C shop).. I just bought a R134a refrigerant refill OR retrofit kit.. its on sale this week at Kmart for $29.99... that same kit (same model number, same contents, etc) costs $50 at Kragen and my friend told me to go to Kmart cuz he saw it on sale (in so cali) and I went and bought it...

my a/c makes the squeak but also isn't all that cold.. on days when its 85 or under it gets cold.. but if its 85 or above then its CoolER than outside but by no means cold.. now I know the a/c is spose to be about 35-40 deg below ambient temps... but I think the air was a bit warmer.. anyway the kit I bought came w/ the blue A/C hose, some retrofit fittings (which I won't need), and THREE 15 Oz cans of refridgerant and oil (they sell separately for $10.49 at kragen.. so there alone its a value at $29.99)... anyway check your local Kmart.. the kit is on sale this week... it has the A/C hose, the T-tap, 3 15 oz cans on R134 refrigerant... and I bought a guage seperately for $9.99...

oh yeah speaking of the guage... the reading on my A/C was like 30psi according to the guage when I connected the guage to the blue coolant hose.. then the other end of the hose to the low pressure line in the A/C.. does anyone know what the PSI is supposed to be (when normal/full charged?) thanks in advance..

PNX-R now I know what that freakin "mouse wheel" squeaking sound is..

 

i think you can buy freon in most states...my friend just put freon in her ac by herself...or maybe its an ohio thing

 

WOW I'm impressed.. she put in a/c by HERSELF? lolz not cuz its a gyrl or that I'm sexist or whatever.. but cuz I started a thread on how to charge the a/c cuz I didn't know how to do it myself..

 

(MattL)
Well about freon. Don't ask for that, ask for "R-134a Refrigerant". And yeah, my car did make that kind of a noise. And then it would make some sort of vibration effect from the area where the AC compressor is located. Here's a side note. If you're driving around town with the AC on and you hit the clutch or switch gears, listen for whinding type of sound.. That happened to me also.. And above that, I also got that vibrating noise. But the noise went away after I turned off my AC.. Let me know how it goes..

(GSRaCeRbOI)
--PNX-R now I know what that freakin "mouse wheel" squeaking sound is.. ---
LOL... Yeah that's the noise I'm talking about..

 

thanks for all the help, but i think it was something else. last night coming back from the track the noise was gettin really bad, and when i came to a stop i heard a loud metal on meat and loose clanking noise so i pulled over and found that that little belt allighnment wheel (the one that goes between the crank and compressor) had totally come off, so i reached down and pulled it out to find that the bearing on it was tottally rusted and there were a few ***** missing, so i'm thinking that in this case it might have been that. I'm still going to charge up the A/C either way though becuase its not blowing as cold as it used too (and who knows maybe that was making the noise and the bearing just happened to have gone out) the good side to this other than not havin PS or AC for now is that the car pulls like crazy! thanks for all the help, i'll let you know how it turn out after repair.
mat