I have a 2001 ZO6 (I am not done with reassmebly yet...)

I am changing my ac compressor, drier, orifice tube, etc. My system did not cool. The old compressor was always running when ac was on. I decided to change compressor as the pressures were good and system had no vacuum.

On disassembly, the oil in the system was as clean as it was new. The orifice tube was very clean with only two specs of debris on it. Does this mean I wasted money on the new compressor?

New compressor. The pulley was a full 2" smaller in diameter than the original. Not a big deal, as I just went and got a smaller belt. Has anyone else had that issue?

 

Quote: The pulley was a full 2" smaller in diameter than the original. Not a big deal,

That is a big deal!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

Hello, to answer your question, yes most likely the old comp was good. The vette system is a non cycling system, this means the compressor should be running all the time the AC is on, the only time it should cycle off is when you turn it off, or there exists a high or low pressure situation, the other exeption is under full throttle, and at a rpm higher than a specified amount. Also, if the oil was clean, and no debris found in the system, that usually signifies that the comp did not fail, usually when they fail, there is metal shavings. Now for the pulley situation, the oem comp was engineered for a specific rpm range and other geometry involving the other pulleys, if the comp in the car was the original, changing the pulley size will definitely affect performance, so if you know the comp in the car was the original, you should return the comp for the proper one, or switch the new pulley for the old one.
Did you post the pressures before deciding on replacing everything. They can be deceptive, and should be read at 1500 and 2000 rpm to be very accurate. If all the pressures were truly on the money, you could have a bad control head, or a bad temp door actuator if a manual system, or 2 bad door actuators if the dual zone system.
In the end if you do change everything and get the system up and running well, it just may be that you recharged the system properly, and it wasn't before. In any event, make sure that the new pulley is the proper one.
Good Luck

 

I had a shop check my ac system. They did a leak check, no leaks. They mentioned the pressures, but I dont remember them. I know they only evacuated 1.2lbs of freon. They did try to recharge, but it wouldnt cool. i didnt listen to all that was said, as i was on the phone. I just know he said they had trouble getting it to take the full 2lbs of freon, that my compressor needed replaced.

 

I have a 2001 coupe, automatic with the dual zone air. The issue I am having is that the air coming out of the driver’s side is warm while moving but starts to cool down while stopped. The passenger side seems to work fine. I checked HVAC codes and none are present.

I had the controller repaired by someone here on the forum for the dimming display about a year ago and was thinking that maybe the controller is the problem. Any ideas?

 

Hello, I may be misunderstanding your comments, but from them I don't think they know what they are doing. You say they evacuated the system, so that means it was empty and a vacuum of 29" pulled, at that point the system should be recharged with1.75 lbs of refrigerant 134, and at least 4 to 6 ounces of the proper oil. If they had trouble getting it to take the charge, they are clueless, as I could put 1.75 lbs in a system that already had a full charge in it, it wouldn't be right, but it would go in. So if they had what they saw as proper pressures to start with, or at least proper pressures percentage wise albeit somewhat short of ref, a proper recharge should have worked, and if they did not have proper pressures proportionally they should have looked at a different problem which any shop worth anything should be able to diagnose.
Not criticizing you, just trying to help you understand the basics of the system.
Good Luck

 

I replaced the compressor with the smaller pulley, which actually was for a Camaro, for the correct Vette compressor. I got job done this afternoon..

I took the car to get charged. They did the procedure. Pulled a vacuum on the car, held right at 29".

AC now blows 42 degree air. Just because the system is clean, does not mean your compressor is good. I just learned that.

 

Correct. IF the compressor high side pressure is low the system will not cool properly. This can be cause my things other than total failure of the compressor.

 

According to the 2000 service manual, the system takes only 1.5 lbs of refrigerant. This is about 2 of those small cans. To much will keep it from cooling properly.

 

Hi All, white90conv is correct. I made a mistake when writing 4.75 lbs of refrigerant, I was remembering the last car I worked on which was a chrysler, no excuse, I just want to set the record straight so as not to mislead those who depend on these posts for help.
The correct weighted charge for the c5's was originally 1.5 lbs of r134. There was a problem with evaporator freeze up under certain humid and cool conditions, so the engineers changed the specs for the 2002 model year to 1.75lbs r134. Either amount will work, with the difference being that with the 1.5lbs, the system will be suseptible to the possible evaporator freeze ups under cooler but very humid conditions. Below see spec from the 2002 manual
Good Luck
________________________________________ ___
________________________________________ ___
Refrigerant System Capacities
Application
Specification

Metric
English

PAG Oil GM P/N 12378526 for United States

PAG Oil GM P/N 88900060 for Canada

Accumulator Replacement
60 ml*
2 oz*

* Add PAG oil equal to the amount of oil drained from the accumulator plus the specified additional amount.

Compressor Replacement
60 ml¹
2 oz¹

Delphi Model V-7 service compressor is shipped dry

Condenser Replacement
60 ml¹
2 oz¹

Evaporator Replacement
60 ml¹
2 oz¹

Total System PAG Oil Capacity
266.16 ml
9 oz

R-134a

Refrigerant Charge
0.79 kg
1.75 lb

¹ If more than the specified amount of PAG oil was drained from a component, add the equal amount drained.