General Maintenance & Repairs - A/C problem. 2 questions! Please take a shot at it!

Hey all, I currently own a 01' Trans Am and recently the A/C has been acting up. There are two things happening, whether they are related or not I don't know.

Ok first when I turn on the A/C you can hear it kick on but it makes a very loud squeaky noise, like an old pos car. Is this the belt? No idea please help.

Second, when im in the car I noticed the A/C vents near your face are not blowing much at all. COLD AIR is coming out, it's just not blowing hard.

If anyone could explain what I need to do to fix this I'd be very happy.

Thanks

For the first, your A/C clutch could be going out. On the second, probably got a bunch of leaves and sediment clogging up your blower motor. Pull that puppy out and see if it needs cleaning.

Pulling out the blower motor, Is that difficult to do? Is there a how to on this?

For the first, yes, your belt could be bad. When the AC engages it puts extra strain on the belt and an old or weak belt can then start squealing. It could also be a bad tensioner. When those get old, they get weaker, putting less tension on the belt and when the compressor engages, same issue as above. Belt squeal. Could be a combination of both or it could be the clutch going.

Cheapest and easiest test, buy a new belt. It's what, 20 bucks and you probably need it anyway.

As for the weak air, is the air powerful from ANY vents? Such as the defrost vents? Do you hear any noise when the fan is on? Like a playing card in a bicycle spoke noise? Yes, the fan could be bad and is beyond extremely easy to replace. Remove kick panel above passenger feet, unplug motor, remove 3 or 4 bolts and fan comes right out. Easy way to see if it's bad is to remove the fan, plug it back in and turn the fan on, being careful of course. If the fan spins weakly, it's likely going south.

For the first, yes, your belt could be bad. When the AC engages it puts extra strain on the belt and an old or weak belt can then start squealing. It could also be a bad tensioner. When those get old, they get weaker, putting less tension on the belt and when the compressor engages, same issue as above. Belt squeal. Could be a combination of both or it could be the clutch going.

Cheapest and easiest test, buy a new belt. It's what, 20 bucks and you probably need it anyway.

As for the weak air, is the air powerful from ANY vents? Such as the defrost vents? Do you hear any noise when the fan is on? Like a playing card in a bicycle spoke noise? Yes, the fan could be bad and is beyond extremely easy to replace. Remove kick panel above passenger feet, unplug motor, remove 3 or 4 bolts and fan comes right out. Easy way to see if it's bad is to remove the fan, plug it back in and turn the fan on, being careful of course. If the fan spins weakly, it's likely going south.

Ok so I will definitely take your advice on the belt for first problem however I may have been wrong about the second problem. It seems to be blowing hard now BUT there is a whistling noise coming from behind the vents and it's driving me nuts does that represent anything you'd know of?

For the second problem, you may need to dig a little deeper into the dash and make sure your director doors that select where the air comes out are opening fully and not sticking. Could be a vacuum leak on the controls or something like that. Keep us posted.

I think the intermittent weak air and the squeal are probably due to a fan motor thats on its way out at least thats what im hoping for as mine seems to be doing that as well. after driving for 3 or 4 hours youll notice that even on high theres not enough airflolw to keep you comfortable but stop take a break and give it some time to cool the motor and it goes back to blowing hard

When the ac kicks on the engine fan kicks on as well. The bearing in the low speed fan in my LT1 car is going out and it will squeel when it first kicks on. Sounds a lot like a belt but it's not.

Check it out a little more before you just go replacing parts. You proabably do need a new belt but it just chaps my ass to buy parts that I dont have to thave and dont actually fix my issue.

As far as the low pressure, start by cleaning out he blower like previously mentioned. It's free. Good luck

Sorry I still havnt gotten around to the car in a few days I've been swamped at work, will try to look into it tonight