AC Compressor Stalls??

[Elijahcole]

i noticed a loud noise that appears then goes away then appears then goes away in the engine bay of my 99 ranger. I opened up the hood and noticed that the top pulley on the right side of the engine stops while the belt is still moving, then goes, then stops, then goes and continues that process. It doesn’t look too healthy, looks like that process can harm the belt, as it continues to grind on the pulley even when the pulley seems to have pulled an e brake. I asked a couple friends and they were saying it looks like it’s the ac clutch. I was wondering if that’s what it is and why it’s in the stop and go loop? If it helps, my ac only works at max setting, does not blow anything in all the other settings. I’m not a car guy if you can’t tell so I have no clue what I’m dealing with!

 

[sgtsandman]

If the belt is not slipping on the pulley itself, the compressor is working as it should. The pulley is two parts with a magnetic clutch to lock them together when the compressor needs to run. If the compressor is cycling on and off pretty quickly, then you have a coolant charge issue. Which is a different ball of wax.

 

[97RangerXLT]

The Sarge hit the nail on the head. trust me, if the actual pulley was locking up, you would definitely know about it, as the ungodly squeal accompanied by the pungent odor of burnt rubber then the snap as the belt breaks...,

a click or pop as the a/c clutch engages/ disengages is normal. frequent cyclingof the clutch does point to low refrigerant. so you probably have a small leak somewhere. get it topped off with a leak detecting dye so you can find the leak the next time it goes low.

AJ

 

[wildbill23c]

As was pointed out the pulley itself where the belt rides will spin all the time, you most likely are looking at the very front of the pulley on the AC compressor which is a magnetic clutch and it will engage and disengage as the AC tells it to turn on and off. Rapid and quick cycling of the AC clutch is a great sign that your AC is low on refrigerant. It needs to be serviced. If the pulley were actually froze up you'd definitely hear a horrendous squealing noise as the belt slips around the pulley, as well as a lot of smoke and burned rubber smell.

 

[black_demon69]

x4

 

[txgocartB3000#2]

X5 and if you are also saying that you only get max blower fan then you have a problem with the resistor fan settings.

Ray