ac clutch not engaging

Asked by Marcus Jul 11, 2016 at 10:19 AM about the 2004 Pontiac Grand Prix GT1

Question type: Maintenance & Repair

My ac blows hot air. Clutch not engaging. Tried
adding a can of refrigerant, cooled off a little but
the clutch still did not engage

2 Answers

101,515

Those cans of refrigerant only provide 1 pound of 134a, you may have needed more. Now you're faced with a dilemma - buy another can of refrigerant and find out the AC still won't work, or take it to a shop and let them diagnose the AC first. Most shops (at least in my area) charge a fee of about $70 to diagnose and add up to 2 pounds of r134a. Same as it would cost you to buy 2 cans of AC-Pro but with the added insurance of making sure the system doesn't have a leak before wasting that money. Secondly, is the AC blowing HOT air, or is it just blowing AMBIENT air from the vents? This is an important distinction, because HOT air implies a problem with the temperature blend door. If the blend door is open to the heater core, you will get hot air no matter how well the AC system is working. I had a problem similar to yours once, blowing HOT air (bad blend door) and clutch not engaging on compressor (needed over 2 pounds of refrigerant). Luckily in my case there were no leaks. You've already committed to one can, you may as well try one more can, and if the clutch still wont engage, time to take it to a shop.

5 people found this helpful.

Turn AC on tap clutch on compressor (without hitting the belt or jamming something in the pulley itself ) if the clutch engages after tapping your problem is your clutch itself

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