I have a 99 civic and I fixed all the leaks, the system is full of refrigerant and it has normal readings on the gauges, my ac compressor was making a low grinding sound at certain rpms for a little bit the noise stopped, is it possible the compressor is what’s wrong?

 

Grinding noises at the compressor are either the pulley, the clutch, or the compressor. You can narrow it down fairly easily - get a friend to help. Start the car. Open the hood, and get eyes on the compressor. Have them turn the a/c on. If you see movement/hear a clunk, the clutch is working as intended (usually). If the pulley is spinning evenly, no wobbling, then it's fine. At that point, best bet is the compressor - but generally, the compressor being shot will show on the gauges. Install your gauges, run the a/c, and make sure that the pressure is still reading normal. If you search "a/c pressure diagnosis" or some such, you'll find some nice explanations of how wonky pressures correlate to miscellaneous broken parts.

Last big one is making sure the a/c fan kicks on and is pulling air through. Make sure the condenser isn't blocked (either with some piece of garbage or dead bugs), and the path of airflow is sensible. If the fan isn't pulling air through, the refrigerant isn't getting cooled, and voila, no cold air.

If everything I've listed looks good and tests good, let me know - it can get more complicated, but usually it's one of these simpler fixes.

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thanks man, I’ll check that out tomorrow after I throw my new rack and pinion in, I’ll clean the condenser and hook the gauges back up and I’ll get back to you, but yes the condenser fan runs just fine

 

Here are what my gauges read, maybe a bad compressor or a blockage????

 

I'm going to say almost definitely a bad compressor, but possibly also a blockage. I have never seen pressure that high before lol