I have a 2000 chevy malibu that has not had a/c the past 2 summers. I’m trying to diagnose what the problem could be. When I start the car and then turn on the a/c by pressing the button in the car nothing seems to happen.
When I went to look at the compressor motor I could see that the clutch is not engage and the middle of the compressor is not turning.
Any ideas what to check without taking to a mechanic??
The system is probably low on refrigerant. If it is, there’s a low pressure switch in the system that prevents the compressor from operating so it doesn’t get damaged due to the lack of refrigerant.
Tester
If there’s no leak and it is just low, you can try putting some refrigerant in to see if you can get it to work again. You can get recharge kits at Advance, Pepboys, HarborFreight - pretty much any FLAPS - for maybe $10-15. It has a gauge that allows you to determine how much it may need.
That usually works.
If you can’t get it to fill or it is totally empty, you likely have a leak so that would need to be fixed first. After that, the system will need to be evacuated the by drawing a vacuum to get the air and moisture out before you can even think of refilling it.