AC Compressor clutch plate oil?

[Salvagedcircuit]

I finally was able to get AC functional in my comanche.

The shim spacing was incorrect on the compressor clutch plate and the plate was unfortunately warped.

I filled my system up with the clutch excited externally and actually had cold air in the cab.

 

Today, when removing the clutch plate for the 4th time to remove the unneeded 5-thou shim, I noticed there was oil in the front face of the clutch. Does anyone know if this is normal? I'm guessing the compressor is leaking somehow. What does it mean?

 

Thanks

 

[AZJeff]

That is compressor/refrigerant oil you see.  (Somewhere in the past life of the vehicle it has some green leak detect dye added to it, which helps identify as refrigerant oil, BTW.)

 

If it's leaking oil, it's also leaking refrigerant.  It used to be possible to purchase replacement seals for the compressors, but the modern "philosophy" for auto repair is to replace the entire compressor rather than components thereof.

 

So it looks like you are going to need to R&R the compressor.  That means empty the system and REPLACE THE ACCUMULATOR, install the new compressor, and evacuate/recharge the system with new refrigerant.  

 

Do you know if the system is currently filled with R12 or R134a?

 

 

[Salvagedcircuit]

it is r134a. thanks for the input. I'm guessing I can't use the system as is, even though it is cooling. I'd love to just add more oil to the compressor and use it, but I have a feeling that is not going to be an adequate solution here. The system recharged and held from last night. I'm still getting cool air. I at most had the ac running in 5minutes intervals during testing.

[AZJeff]

9 hours ago, Salvagedcircuit said:

it is r134a. thanks for the input. I'm guessing I can't use the system as is, even though it is cooling. I'd love to just add more oil to the compressor and use it, but I have a feeling that is not going to be an adequate solution here. The system recharged and held from last night. I'm still getting cool air. I at most had the ac running in 5minutes intervals during testing.

The system will leak whether you run it or not.  It will just leak faster when running.

 

Adding oil won’t compensate for the loss of refrigerant.  R134a molecules are MUCH smaller than the oil molecules.

It’s anyone’s guess how long your current leaky compressor is going to have enough R134a to properly function the system.  It could be months, or it could be days.

 

Start saving up your coins, because if you want AC, a new compressor is in the cards.