My daughter is a poor starving student down in Long Beach and the last two weeks her ac has a rustling noise. She took it to a mechanic and he said she had a leaf stuck and has to pull the whole engine to fix it. Now today she had the ac running a long time and now its sqeaking. what could it be? It’s a 2002
Well it could be a leaf.
When does it make the noise. When driving, engine idling, when accelerating???
I suggest finding a new mechanic.
Only when she turns on the ac so why now is it sqeaking?
She needs a new mechanic - there is no pulling of an engine to anything to an AC system or the blower system in the car (which is actually more likely to be the problem).
As far as the squeaking goes, there is no way for anyone to give any real advice b/c you said nothing about the nature of the squeak or where it seems to be coming from. If it truly is related to the AC system then it is most likely to be a slipping serpentine belt or failing pulley (or both). Neither of those are major repairs.
If it is inside of the car then it is likely coming from the blower motor (it would probably sound like its under the glove box). The rustling noise is also most likely to be coming from the blower motor as it is not uncommon for debris to get down into the ductwork and onto the fan. This is also not a major issue or repair. She just needs to take it someplace else - find a basic, down-home, local mechanic type of person (if such exists in or around Long Beach).
FYI: if the squeaking & rustling are inside of the car then it is very unlikely an AC system problem. It is probably related to the blower fan and ductwork. The fan & ductwork that blow the cooled air around from the AC system is the same fan & ductwork that blow the heat around. My guess is that if she leaves the AC off and just turns on the fan to blow air around she’ll hear the same noises. If a problem involves only the blower fan it is not major. If someone needs to get into the ducts then you’re looking at high labor costs for interior disassembly & re-assembly.
Thank you soo much for your advise!!