So I have a 1995 Pontiac Bonneville I purchased six months ago with about 140,000 miles. About two weeks ago, the a/c compressor seized up?I wanted it taken out altogether and I was told the only way to do this was to have something called an a/c eliminator installed to bypass the missing unit. About two days after the shop does this, however, the steering wheel seized up and upon opening the hood I found that the belts that were part of the eliminator had become jammed. A second trip to the shop reveals that this solution won?t work and now the only option is to have the compressor replaced, as the compressor needs to be there in order for the engine to run. Is this the case with most cars? (I?ve heard of similar occurrences in which this issue was solved with the simple cutting of a belt) I?m considering adding several options ranging from taking the car to another shop and having a refurbished one installed to going to a junkyard to looking for another car altogether?what option would be best? If I choose to replace the compressor at the original shop, is it possible to get a refund on the original eliminator installation? Any help or advice would be greatly appreciated, thanks
By eliminator it sounds like they mean an A/C compressor bypass pulley which in this case really should work. In the cases where a cut belt solved the problem is usually with cars that have a dedicated belt for the A/C compressor, in your case the serpentine belt runs everything under the hood (alternator, compressor, power steering pump, water pump) and can’t just be cut. In some cases a shorter belt can be used but that doesn’t always work in all cases.
As for the bypass pulley, what exact reason did they give you that it wouldn’t work?
If the compressor itself is actually seized up, then pulling the connector on the compressor clutch will allow the clutch to free wheel and you can install the original belts. If the clutch in the airconditioner is shot, this can be separated from the compressor and replaced at probably lesscost than the bypas unit.
According to the shop, some of the bolts holding the assembly in weren’t doing their job so well, resulting in this:
I’d say if the bolts were not doing their job that was the faulty of the person handling the bolts, not the bolts themselves.
Have you fixed this problem??? I’m having the same problem too it’s started when one of the bolts holding my ac compressor just broke off so replaced it with another and then the whole bracket snapped soo then I replaced it with a bypass pulley twice and the same thing happened both times and now some one is telling me that a bypass won’t work I need the compressor and then someone else is telling me that it has to be a faulty pump or pulley so it’s a big headache, I would really appreciate it if you could tell me how you resolved this problem