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Old Aug 18, 2019 | 11:15 AM
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This morning when I started my 1993 C 4 coupe, there was a rush of black rubbery smoke coming from under the hood. Of course I shut off the engine and checked for fire of which there was none. I just had the a/c condenser and radiator replaced and the a/c was working fine. When I turned off the a/c, the smoke stopped. I think the smoke was coming from the serpentine belt. No smoke when a/c off. Should I replace the serpentine belt? Would the pulley or a/c compressor clutch cause this? Is the car safe to drive as long as the a/c is not engaged until I can replace the serpentine belt? It looks good but any advice would be greatly appreciated and thank you so much.
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Old Aug 18, 2019 | 11:51 AM
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Compressor locked up??
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Old Aug 18, 2019 | 11:53 AM
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Old Aug 18, 2019 | 08:59 PM
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mouse?
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Old Aug 19, 2019 | 03:01 AM
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Originally Posted by scorpiofox69
Compressor locked up??

That would be my guess also.
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Old Aug 19, 2019 | 06:51 AM
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It sounds like a seized compressor to me. Is there damage to the drive belt?
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Old Aug 19, 2019 | 10:14 AM
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Originally Posted by marines
This morning when I started my 1993 C 4 coupe, there was a rush of black rubbery smoke coming from under the hood.
This exact thing happened to me when my AC clutched failed, thought my car was on fire! You can drive the car but to be safe disconnect the AC clutch connector, it's right on top of the compressor.

Last edited by bac22; Aug 19, 2019 at 10:14 AM.
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Old Aug 19, 2019 | 10:35 AM
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Thank you all for your help. Indeed the compressor has failed but did not harm the serpentine belt. Disconnected the compressor like you all said. Am looking at a Universal A/C/ CO9537C on Amazon for $124.27. Seems cheap to me. I wonder if it is compatible with the dead one. Any suggestions? Thank you all so very much. Although not a daily driver, Alabama is hot!
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Old Aug 19, 2019 | 12:07 PM
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Originally Posted by marines
Thank you all for your help. Indeed the compressor has failed but did not harm the serpentine belt. Disconnected the compressor like you all said. Am looking at a Universal A/C/ CO9537C on Amazon for $124.27. Seems cheap to me. I wonder if it is compatible with the dead one. Any suggestions? Thank you all so very much. Although not a daily driver, Alabama is hot!
Replace the belt.

SMC doesn't react well to being smacked by a belt at high speed.
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Old Aug 19, 2019 | 12:31 PM
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You said you just had your AC system worked on. I would take it back to them to see what they did wrong
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Old Aug 19, 2019 | 01:21 PM
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Originally Posted by marines
Thank you all for your help. Indeed the compressor has failed but did not harm the serpentine belt. Disconnected the compressor like you all said. Am looking at a Universal A/C/ CO9537C on Amazon for $124.27. Seems cheap to me. I wonder if it is compatible with the dead one. Any suggestions? Thank you all so very much. Although not a daily driver, Alabama is hot!
Are you sure it's the compressor that failed and not the clutch? Your symptom just seems very reminiscent of my problem and it was differently the AC clutch, not the compressor...the prior being not too bad to replaced.

Also as someone else mentioned, the fact you just had AC work done seems a bit coincidental to have a problem with your AC.

Last edited by bac22; Aug 19, 2019 at 01:22 PM.
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Old Aug 19, 2019 | 02:20 PM
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Originally Posted by scorpiofox69
Compressor locked up??

That would be my guess also, and once you solved the problem, replace the serpentine belt, when you said it smoked, it got hot and lost its integrity.
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