For all my cars, I’ve developed a trusting relationship with a couple of local repair shops as well as the dealer. You need to swallow your pride, find a good shop, nicely explain that your A/C system has a problem, and ask them to advise you on the repair. Look here on Car Talk where there are links to many highly recommended mechanics (I’ve posted a few), take your car to one and go without being skeptical, suspicious and without having a pre-determined idea that all mechanics are crooks. You need a good mechanic more than they need you.
autozone does rent the a/c evac pump. but not the hose/gauge assy. so you might have to buy a set at harbor freight for 50. than sell them on CL.
For someone who didn’t know the difference between a compressor and a condensor, odds are higher than average that they’re doing to do some damage; either to the A/C system or themselves.
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You can use a screwdriver to listen from where the noise is coming from. When you do this you must be very carful not to hit any moving parts like pullies and belts. You could be very badly hurt. Take a large screwdriver and put the point on the case near the bearings of what you are listening to. Put your ear on the end of the handle of the screwdriver. You will hear if the bearings are bad. As far as evacuating the A/C it must be done by a shop with the special equipment to do so. All moisture and old lubricant in the refrigerant must be flushed. The proper lubricant for the make of compressor must also be installed with the refrigerant. Trying to charge a leaking system yourself is a waste of money.
About $100. I can get a used compressor on eBay for $40 and the refrigerant at Walmart for $10.
I wish you the best of luck. It might just get you the rest of the summer, but I wouldn’t get my hopes up.
1-if it is so quick and easy that it is worth $30 at most, then DIY
2-I find it absolutely shocking and disgraceful that a mechanic might want to get paid to do work on someone’s car, why can’t they just do these simple jobs for free?. Nothing but greed I tell you, there ought to be a law against those sort of greedy folks.
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And there’s a very high chance that a used compressor is going to leak around the compressor shaft seal or the clutch may not be far from failure.
Given the fact that most compressors are buried and can be labor intensive to change I would be not be keen on the idea of a used one. I like to do things once and be done with it.
In your figuring you need to add some refrigerant oil to the list also. I’ve seen a number of used (and a few new) compressors wiped because someone didn’t think about the lube issue or assumed there was sufficient oil in the compressor or system.
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It turned out to be the Harmonic Balancer!
Thanks for everyone’s help.
I don’t do price shopping. The Toyota dealer in our community has been straight with me and even ab oil change is competitive with other shops. We had some work done at the Toyota dealer and my wife was with me when we went to pick up the vehicle. The invoice was at the cashier and Mrs. Triedaq said “Let me write the check. Nobody can read your writing”. The cashier then looked at Mrs. Triedaq and said, “Are you paying the bill”? When my affirmed that she was paying the cashier explained that it was “Ladies’ Day” and we got a discount. Apparently, every Tuesday is “Ladies’ Day” at the dealer and women get a discount. I think this is discriminatory against men, but rather than involve the ACLU, I just have Mrs. Triedaq take the car for service on Tuesday.
Last January, Mrs. Triedaq fell on the ice and broke her left ankle. I didn’t realize that I hadn’t driven her vehicle enough. When she was at the point where she could drive again, the battery was low on her vehicle. I charged the battery enough to start the vehicle. I called the Toyota dealer to arrange an appointment for a battery and alternator check. They checked the battery and charging system and said there was nothing wrong, and advised me to drive the car out on the highway. There was no charge even though I expected to pay for the service.
I would rather be a customer at a place that does good work than price shop. I think I am ahead in the long run.
who diagnosed it?
has it already been replaced?
I’m asking because on some older vehicles it’s getting hard to find a new balancer
Myself in conjunction with existing youtube videos and internet search information.
I had thought it was either something in the A/C compressor, the belt since it was new and aftermarket, or the A/C idler pulley. I put a shaped piece of cardboard between the upper a/c condenser and the lower a/c idler pulley thinking I would be able to hear the sound louder from one or the other with the cardboard blocking each one. That did not work at all as the sound was just loud and coming from that whole area.
I watched a youtube video by a popular car person on diagnosing A/c noise. One of the causes mentioned was a wobbling pulley. I noticed the Harmonic Balancer had a slight wobble, not major though noticible and clear if concentrated on.
One of the things that was occurring that I didn’t bring up is whenever the A/C was turned on it would cause the crankshaft pulley bolt to come loose. Like it was slowing down the Harmonic Balancer.
I took a closer look at the Harmonic Balancer and saw that the outer ring was slightly movable from the inner rubber. Not by much though it had a little bit of play if pressed back and forth.
One of the youtube videos I watched on harmonic balancer wobbling noise had practically the exact same loud nonstop squeal that I had. It was the first video I found replicating the sound. At that point I was much more confident I found the issue. Before this I did not even know the Harmonic Balancer had multiple layers that wore out and could slip.
One thing that almost threw me off that was wrong with that video is he said, if the noise only happen s when the A/C is on then it is the condensor, if it happens when the A/C is on or you turn (using the power steering pump) then it is the Harmonic Balancer. Mine only had that noise when the A/C was on.
So I went and physically looked at it and tried to turn the outer ring by hand (after reading forum information) and I was able to move it. Apparently that is not supposed to happen.
After I did that it caused the noise to manifest slightly though same noise when I turned the car and turned. That was with the A/C belt disconnected. So at that point I knew I found the issue.
Most of the local auto stores did not have it in stock though I did find one 20 miles away. I even got about $15 off with an online code.
Installed it and no noise, a/c works perfect.
I was about to order a used condenser and replace all of that so I’m glad I found out about the Harmonic Balancer. Up until that point all of the information I found online said either the belt, idler pulley or A/C bearing.
There’s obviously another thing SERIOUSLY wrong with this mystery video you’re referring to
Whoever posted that video is a complete IDIOT
Because the condenser is incapable of making that noise
The guy obviously doesn’t know the difference between a condenser and a compressor, as mentioned several days ago
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They’re similar sounding and spelled words as well as what they’re related to. It’s no big deal.
I don’t think misusing a word that has parallax with another makes someone a complete idiot or stupid.
This is the video that really honed me into the Harmonic Balancer though he’s wrong that “If it only occurs when you enage the AC then it is a compressor issue”.
The thing is anyone can make a youtube about anything whether they know what they are talking about or not. You have to be careful with your sources. I think though he was confusing condenser and compressor whether he realized it or not.
When I had the balancer replaced along with the crank sensor and a tow, it cost me about $500. Don’t remember what the part cost but substantially more than $150.
But there is a certain satisfaction in insulting people on the internet.
That guy in the video is not an automotive technician, he is going to take the vehicle to “The Pep Boys” for repair, that is a shame.
The video is of an Isuzu Vehicross, a rather rare vehicle, do you have the same vehicle? It can be helpful to post what kind of vehicle you have for others to understand what you are working on.
I realize that. On a Subaru forum I posted a video of the noise and received a reply from a veteran of the forums that seemed very knowledgeable about Subaru’s. He said to replace the compressor with a used one and I was eventually going to do that. It is interesting though in that all of my searches about A/C noise nothing came up about the harmonic balancer until I specifically searched for that.
This was a $56 part though $42 after promotional discount.
Yeah this was more of to discuss the issue with having to go to a shop for the A/C evac. than advice. I had a post before about this issue with a video clilp though did not receive many replies on that one. I was getting close to ordering a used compressor though I just felt it wasn’t time yet, that I needed to try more to ascertain the source, which turned out to be quite beneficial.
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It is a big deal if you are asking people that can’t see what you are referring when you are asking them for advice. and more so if those people actually care enough to want to give you good advice.
We understand that folks coming here for advice may not always know the exact terms and wordage for vehicle parts and inner workings (heck- ask my parts guys- I don’t even know the exact terminology for every thing, lol!) but many of us do try to give good, helpful advice. That is hard when someone uses the wrong term, because we don’t know the other persons levels of experience or knowledge- and like I said- we can’t physically see or touch the vehicle. Pictures are helpful.
being open to learning is also very helpful.
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Well, net result, it’s awesome that you got it fixed for such a reasonable sum.
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