Air Compressor Leaking PAG Oil

[JOD]

Well, the title says it all. This is a long-winded story that involved me planning to drop my exhaust and driveshaft to remove a bad propshaft bearing--only to discover that the center bearing bracket was loose

2 minutes, problem solved...


....almost.

While under the car I noticed a little bit of oil on the subframe. Hey, didn't I just wipe that up last week when I was under here?? Hey, what's that yellowish oil?? Well, you get the picture.

Here are the relevant details:

-car: Ford Freestyle
-AC still blows cold
-I first noticed the leak last week. I doubt it's been leaking that long, few weeks maybe?
-I haven't done any service to the AC system, everything's original.

So, here are my questions for any AC experts, or anyone who has an opinion:

-there's no way for me to rebuild this compressor myself, right?

-this compressor is notorious for the scroll valve to bind, causing it to be warm at idle. However, I didn't notice a leak around the scroll valve plate. It *appears* to be down lower. I'm going to clean everything thoroughly though to try to pinpoint the leak. Could a binding scroll valve be the culprit? I'd hate to replace the compressor unnecessarily, but I'd also hate to recharge the system repeatedly for no reason

-if I need a new compressor, what are my best options.

• OEM, new, $320
  
• junkyard, looks good, replace the scroll valve, $150
  
• rebuilt compressor, $250.00

Lastly, I see the air compressors are available with and without a clutch. Any thoughts on that? Thanks for advance for any insight. I do realize I should stop using the AC immediately--though I can only laugh at typing those words. It appears that our 2 days of summer are long gone, and I really only use the air compressor to defrost the windows. IOW, I have nothing but time to fix this.

thanks!

 

[JOD]

sorry to bump my own thread, but I now have one more ?

Is it really necessary to replace the evap core even if my compressor has yet to torpedo itself? I figured that was only necessary if you have bits of compressor bearing in there... Right now, there's no noise/issues, just the oil leak.

 

[Steve S]

There are some special tools needed to repair A/C . How are you going to evacuate the A/C before rechanging ? Receiver dryer?

 

[JOD]

Originally Posted By: Steve S
There are some special tools needed to repair A/C . How are you going to evacuate the A/C before rechanging ? Receiver dryer?


Well, I was going to take it somewhere to have the refrigerant evacuated. I do have a vacuum pump and manifold gauges to draw down the system, and the adapters to recharge R134A.

 

[Viggen]

I just wanted to chime in on this. My Dad's 2005 Ford Five Hundred probably has the exact same compressor, and sure enough it is leaking at the shaft seal. Thing only has 72k miles on it and it is very well maintained too. Instead of replacing with a new compressor at around 1250 USD, My father has opted to just get it recharged every couple of years since the leak is very small and discharge is extremely slow. The shop that does it only charges about 80 bucks for a evac and recharge.

Writing Ford about this, there is no reason a compressor shouldn't last for 10 years or 100k in this day in age. Very disappointed.

 

[bdcardinal]

We see a lot of these leaking on Freestyles and 500's and their Mercury and other names equivalents. Almost considered stocking one, but we can get them same day so that was a no go.

 

[Viggen]

Leaking from the scroll plunger area or the main shaft seal? or both?

There isn't a Ford TSB about this is there bdcardinal?

 

[exranger06]

Originally Posted By: JOD
sorry to bump my own thread, but I now have one more ?

Is it really necessary to replace the evap core even if my compressor has yet to torpedo itself? I figured that was only necessary if you have bits of compressor bearing in there... Right now, there's no noise/issues, just the oil leak.


If the compressor isn't seized, you can just replace the compressor and the drier and be good to go.

Only when it seizes you have to replace/flush out everything: Evaporators can be flushed out, no need to replace. Hoses/lines can be flushed, condensers can sometimes be flushed, depends on the design. Driers and orifice tubes should be replaced.

 

[JOD]

Originally Posted By: Viggen
Leaking from the scroll plunger area or the main shaft seal? or both?

There isn't a Ford TSB about this is there bdcardinal?

If it were leaking from the scroll valve area, I'd be thrilled, since it's a simple fix. I can't really tell. I'll know better today-I washed the underside of the car yesterday and I'll run the AC today to try to better find the leak.

As BDCardinal mentioned, this is pretty common-but the failure point is almost always the scroll valve clogging. A lot of folks have simply replaced that, recharged the system and it's all been good. I'm wondering if something else is going one with the oil leak, though...

I'm actually leaning towards replacing the scroll valve first, recharging the system and seeing if it's still leaking. The part is about $40.00 and I can do everything except removing the refrigerant.

 

[JOD]

Originally Posted By: exranger06
Originally Posted By: JOD
sorry to bump my own thread, but I now have one more ?

Is it really necessary to replace the evap core even if my compressor has yet to torpedo itself? I figured that was only necessary if you have bits of compressor bearing in there... Right now, there's no noise/issues, just the oil leak.


If the compressor isn't seized, you can just replace the compressor and the drier and be good to go.

Only when it seizes you have to replace/flush out everything: Evaporators can be flushed out, no need to replace. Hoses/lines can be flushed, condensers can sometimes be flushed, depends on the design. Driers and orifice tubes should be replaced.


Right on, thanks--that's what I was thinking (and hoping).

 

[bdcardinal]

Originally Posted By: Viggen
There isn't a Ford TSB about this is there bdcardinal?

not that I have seen no. And I dont see the compressors except boxes coming in and out for cores.

 

[Chris142]

Don't bother with rebuilds, rebuilding it yourself or junk yard compressors. Buy a new one. Do it once and be done.

 

[artificialist]

Originally Posted By: exranger06
Originally Posted By: JOD
sorry to bump my own thread, but I now have one more ?

Is it really necessary to replace the evap core even if my compressor has yet to torpedo itself? I figured that was only necessary if you have bits of compressor bearing in there... Right now, there's no noise/issues, just the oil leak.


If the compressor isn't seized, you can just replace the compressor and the drier and be good to go.

Only when it seizes you have to replace/flush out everything: Evaporators can be flushed out, no need to replace. Hoses/lines can be flushed, condensers can sometimes be flushed, depends on the design. Driers and orifice tubes should be replaced.

Lines need to be flushed out if the compressor leaks internally, causing the high side no to be high, and the low side not to be low.

If you do this to a VW, it will look like mercury is pouring out of the system.

My father told me that on mom's '85 Maxima, it was really amazing to see the garbage pour out that system. Each Maxima from '85 to '88 had that problem.