Smoke coming from AC compressor

[pattejam]

Hello all,

Last night my 91 was smoking a little when i got home. I looked around and saw that there was black goo smoking from around the ac compressor pulley. I tried to start the car again and it just squealed really bad and died. I figured i would ask the people here before going any further. I cut the AC belt so i could still drive the car. Is it likely that the problem is just the ac clutch? The AC had been working fine before all of this.

Thanks in advance for any advice you all can give me.

Cory Patterson

 

[nsx4fun]

Were you running the AC when this happened?
Really, I guess it doesn't matter for my suggggestion. Now that you have the belt removed, I would start by seeing how much you can disassemble from the compressor without breaking any freon seals. Never having removed clucthes or pulleys from compressors, I can't give you more details, but I would guess that when you get the pulley and clutch assembly removed from the compressor, you should be able to determine if that is functioning properly or not. And I would hope that there would be a way to turn the compressor with a wrench to see if it can spin or if it is seized.

I hope someone with more experience can provide you with more information.

Fritz

 

[cobalt]

Corey,

Your a/c compressor sounds like it is toasted. The black ooze is melted rubber from the belt. There is a "clutch" type unit that spins the belt, but since the compressor is seized/toasted, it is rubbing the rubber belt on the pulley, and heating it up to the point that it melts...makes a nasty groaning/squealing noise as well.

If your a/c still puts out cold air...sounds like it's just a matter of time before it dies altogether. I'd stop using the a/c right now or else debris from the bearings (metal shavings) might make their way through the system into the evaporator, i believe...which is under the dash, and a pain to get to...

-andie

 

[DutchBlackNsx]

Had the same thing happen to me.

It has to do with being low on freon and/or oil.
My ac-men told me what the story was, but can't remeber

It has to do with the clutch going on and off faster then normal, and then starts slipping, and then burns.
I took the pump out, and opened it up.
Everything inside was still ok, though the clutch assembly was toasted, which included the clutchplate, coil, and the third one (????, sorry long time ago). You can find it in the manual.

The clutch-assy comes from Honda as a package ($$).
You might want to look at a used one, which was cheaper for me then fixing my own one.

By just looking inside the pump, you can only inspect the mechanical things, you never know if the shaft-seal has burned though.

Dutchy

 

[BlKeViL]

If you need any parts for your ac system, let me know. I got the whole ac system from a wreck 91nsx, and the price is very cheap.
email me at [email protected]