I purchased a used 1998 Plymouth Voyager 3 years ago. The compressor was replaced before by the dealership I purchased it from. About 3 or 4 months after the purchase, the belt started slipping whenever the airconditioner was engaged. I took it in for inspection and the belt was tightened. Shortly after that it began slipping again. It was taken in again and again. The belt was adjusted and slipping followed each time.
One day I had enough and just let the belt slip until it was a belt no longer. Later that year taking the advice from my mechanic that it must have been a bad compressor, I replaced the compressor and the same slipping and squealing followed. This did not solve the problem.
Any one have any ideas? This is my wife’s car and it is paid off so I REALLY need help.
It’s entirely possible the vehicle never needed a compressor to begin with.
The first things I would consider would be making sure the radiator cooling fans are operating when the compressor is engaged and making sure the high and low side pressures are correct.
The discharge pressures being too high due to inoperative cooling fans or a restriction in the high side of the A/C can cause the belt to slip. Possible causes of a restriction are a plugged accumulator, stuck expansion valve or orifice tube, oil clogged condenser, etc.
I’m not real familiar with the exact belt setup on you particular vehicle but I thought this model used a spring-loaded belt tensioner? That was what puzzled me about the constant belt adjusting procedure. If it does have a spring-loaded tensioner then the possibility of a weakened spring should be considered also.
Hope that helps.
If it is a V6 then you have the tensioner. So like OK asked, has the tensioner been changed? Also I am assuming the AC worked fine all this time.
We had a 97 Voyager, the AC Failed, the mechanic - pretty reputable in town said he had to replace every component in the AC because of aluminium shavings in the system. I don’t really know what he meant by every component, but that was at 77k mikes to the tune of 2500 dollars in year 2k.