I am going to apologize in advance, this is my first forum post, I am not technical, but I think my mechanic is trying to take me for a ride. I am a single mom of a 7 month old, have very little money, so any advice would be greatly appreciated. This is not for anyone to feel bad, just need to know if this is something that can be easily fixed

SO...my compressor stopped engaging, even tho the fan came on, it was blowing warm air. My "mechanic" opened it and saw that the clutch had "popped out" away from the compressor. He popped it back in place and it is working for the moment, but he said he would need almost 1000 bucks to replace the compressor and clutch. I asked if there was a way to keep the clutch in place, and he said no, both have to be replaced. My questioning this, is because if the two parts are sold separately, then why can't it be reattached to where it would stay? I really cannot afford to replace both parts, if they can just be fixed

As I said, I am new to this, so please be patient!

 

If he reattached it why didnt he leave it in place, from what i saw it has a bolt that you screw on to hold the clutch/pulley/field coil in place. Here is a picture of the compressor and clutch and how you remove it.


in MY opinion, a new compressor and clutch go for about $150-$250 depending on where you look. Depending on the car your looking at about 1-4 hours max on labor. You should not be paying anything more than $400 (worst case scenario) to get your compressor/clutch replaced including labor/parts. Any other questions you may have please post them up on a NEW THREAD that YOU create so you can get the personal attention to your problem and not steer my thread off course. Thank you

 

Thank you DelSolRo...I apologize for using your thread, it won't let me post a new one for 15 days That info helps a lot actually. This is not the first time my mechanic "friend" has pulled this...I appreciate it and sorry to steer you off course!

 

If you search here on the forums you can find people selling complete air conditioning systems for roughly $100 - $200. I have purchased a working compressor online for $35 w/ clutch. The labor to replace the compressor should be roughly 1 hour (75$ an hour labor roughly). Then you will need the AC recharged which roughly will be $90 - $150 including labor and materials. So you are looking about $300 to do the whole job. This is not a hard figure but roughly an estimate based on the AC repairs I did last week on my AC system. Good luck!

 

The clutch is replaceable without replacing the compressor. Its literally one bolt and a bit of struggling to wiggle the pulley off and a bit more struggling to put the new pulley on.

Now did he say it would need to be replaced soon, or just in the future. Technically the clutch is a wear item that will eventually need to be replaced because no more shims can be taken out. In my opinion run the AC until it stops blowing cold, check the gap, and replace the clutch if out of spec.

 

the clutch actually had fallen out and was away from the compressor completely. He just pushed it back in place about 3 weeks ago and its still in place. I think the bolt probably just came out after reading this, and he is trying to sucker me into more money. Both parts are working fine otherwise. I have gone through my vehicle records from the previous owner and found he charged me almost 2000 for a new timing belt, water pump, and muffler as well, even though the timing belt and water pump had been recently replace right before i bought the car (just found the dealer receipts), and i am going to try and attach a picture of the new "muffler" he replaced 2 years ago.....yeah...im ticked off Thanks for moving my post, i appreciate it! Didn't mean to jump a different conversation. Had to post a link, it wont let me attach a photo since I am new, but if you look at it, you'll see where I'm coming from on this so called "friend"

http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?s...7578.737993284

 

Real friends dont rip each other off, leave him and find a real mechanic to check it out. Btw how old are you?

 

He actually is a certified mechanic. I spoke to him...actually he said the muffler was NOT replaced, but welded. And the cost of repairs was replacing several items such as the timing belt for preventative maintenance... I am 41...yeah, Im a girl, I don't know much about cars Learning more everyday though! Thanks for all the help, it's appreciated!

 

I dont know much about cars either but have learned alot since i got my first one. But reason i asked how old you are, is cause thought maybe if youre like 16 or 17 then they would take advantage of your easily cause a lot of mechs tend to look down on young girls.

Maybe see if he can cut you a deal on te repairs.

 

Oh these were all repairs done in the past and paid for already. It came up because I've been having a lot of issues lately and i noticed the muffler first, so i went back and looked at what had been done before i bought the car, and asked what all work he did to it. ah well, that's life i suppose. still have to do a bunch of work to it, its been one thing after another with this car Unfortunately, being 41 and a single mom with a 7 mo old, I pretty much expect most mechanics will take me for a ride because It's apparent I don't know my tail light from my dashboard lol! Now the plan is to learn as much as possible, so if it's not something I can do, at least I can know what they are talking about

 

Well im 30 male and it happens to me too! Theres some mechs who will pounce on anyone coming their way. Once you find a good mech you cAn trust you need to hang onto them.

 

Good lord that muffler is beat.......why the hell would you weld a muffler....you can get a stock replacment for 50 bux. Hes taking you for one hell of a ride

 

Kinda my thought.... Especially when the muffler was the main reason I had him service my car to begin with, and all this "preventative" maintenance was done and the muffler welded instead? ah well, I can't say either way, because I am not a mechanic. He explained everything again, and it made sense I suppose, who knows

 

next time do your homework before you have anyone work on your car, you can save yourself from making costly mistakes. You can actually look through your engine bay and check to see if the clutch still has the nut on and if the plate is still on (which i assume if the nut fell off, the clutch plate is off as well)

 

Hey DelSolRo, I didn't see a plate on it? I am going to try and find more information about it. I can see the compressor and the clutch, but there isn't anything covering it. I did find someone else to do the other work that's not even going to charge me (a real friend), I just have to hunt down a muffler and some door handles. I DO intend to learn all I can so that it won't happen again though, 2000 bucks later, it was an expensive lesson to learn because I trust too easily.

 

yea that sucks, but better late than never :/

There should be a plate with like 3-4 screws covering the pulley you can see it in that diagram i posted on the bottom left side its figure (A), if its missing youll only see the pulley.