A/C COMPRESSOR QUESTION

I think the compressor on my '89 W124 has seized.
When I try to turn the A/C on, the engine will stall.

I'm guessing the compressor needs replacing. I haven't tried removing and taking it apart yet because the alternator and power steering are on the same belt.

Looking at photos I took of the outer casing, I believe its a DENSO 10P series.
I can get a decent price on a 10PA series out of Land Rover Discovery.
The 10PA were also fitted to later models of the W124.

My question is are the 10P and 10PA series interchangeable?

have you tried holding the rpm higher and engaging the compressor?

It might be pulling too much load at idle and stalling the engine.

I don't fucking know.

Go to a parts store and have them bring the two out and compare them.

Tried that.
The compressor clutch goes back out and it stops attempting to start up. Some safety feature to prevent the pulley and belt from tearing itself apart I think.

I had this exact issue with my SX4 recently and just bypassed the AC with a shorter belt as my engine model exists in a no AC config.

alright cool, yes they are interchangeable.

Can you turn the compressor by hand?

i have a question too
the ac compressor in my car is kinda noisy
how much noise is normal?

this is the tag on it before i charged it, and i am using ester oil

Describe the noise. Does it get worse with RPM?

yes
kind of a buzz

I'll just ask because I don't know but does it have an idle air control solenoid similar to what Ford used at that time? If so it could be stuck with junk and thus the is PCM not upping the idle speed and stalling the engine when the A/C is activated.

a mercedes would have had K jetronic
pure shit. ford's EEC-IV is far superior

For the moment I wouldn't worry too much.If you smell heated metal/rubber then I would look into it.

No sense behind that. There's an electromagnetic clutch between the compressor and its wheel.

How can you live without ac in current year?

Really?

I can't think of how to do that.
The belt is still on so I can't try but I know the flywheel spins normally and can see the clutch working.


Its a 5cyl diesel with mechanical pump and injection.

Here's a photo of the casing.

Update:
The car's in the shop right now.

The technicians are working on fixing the compressor.
One of the five pistons was completely seizeD and the oil was a mess of goop.
I don't think the labor bill is going to be pretty.

By not living in a desert like a filthy terrorist.

I have a question guys.

How long does it normally take for the AC to start blowing cold air? We are talking about a car that was parked under the summer sun.

It takes up to 5 minutes for mine, even after the coolant/gas was refilled.

It realy shouldn't be that long to start blowing cool air, mine usually gets blowing cold almost instantly. As for filling the cabin with that cool air though? That can take a while.

I thought that because the car is so heated up it takes time to cool the area around the AC system.

Others I asked said pretty much the same, it should start blowing cold almost immediately.

How can i tell if the issue is compressor? Does it make a big difference if the AC is set to ECON, AUTO or just manually set to temp?

I don't have those settings in my car so I couldn't say for sure but try setting the temp manually instead of relying on auto. It's very probably the compressor if it's fully gassed.

Does the fan blow perfectly or is it a little weird in some way?

Is the car idling? If so it could take a while.
A/C should blow colder once the car gets moving and air starts running over the condenser.

Also, sometimes compressors get worn out with use, and need higher rpm than idle to blow as they should.

Try revving to 2.5k rpm and see if it gets better.

Fan seems alright, I've read before that you should hear a click or smth when compressor turns on.
I'm not sure I ever heard that on mine.

I'm not sure about the click exactly but it could be that the compressor is just on its way out if it's still functioning in some way.

So just keep living with it till it finally gives up I guess, no sense changing it now while it still kind of works. But start to save up for fixing it anyway.

Start the engine, open the hood, locate the compressor. Have someone push the A/C button while you see if the clutch engages.

The clutch usually in the center of the pulley.
It should visibly move towards the compressor to engage the shaft.
The pulley will always be spinning as long as the engine is running.

Yea that's what i think too. It's probably on it's way out.

thanks for this, will check it out.

Update two:
The piston was stuck because the aluminum crank had some dents in it. Unsure of reason why dents happened.

Crankshaft is now getting dents brazed and will also get refaced and balanced at engineering shop.