A buddy's Gen1 had the AC compressor lock up. What parts should be replaced? I know it needs a compressor. Probably the desiccant bag? Should I be worried about the condenser or evaporator core? Do these have an orifice tube, accumulator, etc? The evaporator looks like a PITA to replace.
Do you? Have you isolated which part has 'locked up'? With the belt removed, try turning (a) the pulley, and (b) the pressure plate in the middle of the pulley. If the pulley is what won't turn, replace the pulley bearing. Look up the thread(s) on clutch replacement. No compressor, no opening the system, no evac or recharge or desiccant bag, straightforward mechanical job. If you can turn the pulley but not the pressure plate, then, yeah, compressor job.
Thanks. I can't see it, he has it at a shop. Assuming it's the pressure plate, does he need to replace all the other parts - condenser, evap core, desiccant, etc? Not sure what I'm missing. Dang, Google AI and Search keep saying a 2002 has the electric, no-belt compressor. A quick browse of the manual didn't see a recommendation of replacing other parts, just how to remove/replace each one.
Yeah, talked to the shop - a friend of mine I trust - and he says it's the compressor and not the pulley. Says I should order the compressor, condenser and expansion valve. sound right? This shop isn't expert on hybrids. Looks like the condenser is part of the radiator. Do these have the same issue as my truck with a frozen compressor sending metal through the system? Do I need to flush the lines? I told him I'd help replace the parts so that he could just go to a shop and get it charged up when we're through. Where is the expansion valve located? This Charm manual says its behind the blower unit. The pic isn't clear, is that under the dash? Has anyone bought one of the replacement glove box supports from the dealer lately? Wonder if they're still available.
I couldn’t source the glove box bracket when the fan/blower was replaced in my ‘02, but my mechanic did the r-and-r without surgery.
I'd leave the internals as is unless compressor exploded . Metal shards throughout system. Done this alot on regular AC cars for years . Never a problem so far . So 8 guess he's seeing metal shards throughout system . Then no choices . It's a bear of a job . You'll have to fab the glove box metal piece . Or something. Gen2 or electrics are getting folks sights I imagine. My old junky Chevy volts running on gas only would be similar but much nicer car unfortunately. I'm running one like this now. Nice unsupported car . Not a scratch . Just can't get a HV battery . Or EGR valves . Hey but at least it's not a direct injection ecotec
Kinda depends on how the compressor died. Sometimes they blow a couple ounces of shredded metal glitter into the plumbing right before they completely lock up. When that happens you've got a big cleanup on your hands. But if it just did a tidy little seize-up? should be a quick swap. The expansion valve feeds into the evaporator, right next to the heater core at the heart of the dash. In some cars it is accessible from the engine side of the firewall, but I don't know about that model.
On the bright side, you don't need the glove box repair piece for that. They just gave you the option of cutting the dash panel under the glove box as a time-saving option for getting to the blower box without taking the whole dash out, and then you would use the repair piece in place of what you cut. To get to the evaporator, you need the whole dash panel out anyway, so you don't cut anything, and don't need the repair piece.
