jcarr

I drive a 97 z28 and I have owned it for about 4 months. The a/c has run great and super cold until about two weeks ago. I took a trip for about 2 hours and the next time I started my car it wouldnt get cold. I took it to a shop and they said the compressor had to be replaced and it would be $1000, which I dont have. My buddy who used to be a mechanic said that they will usually tell you its the compressor no matter what, so I put some refrigerant in it myself and it worked just fine for about a week. It went out again and I filled it back up and this time it only lasted me a day and it got so low my compressor wouldnt start again. I think its a pretty bad leak, any other opinions? And what am I looking at to get it fixed?

zachrywd_01TA

well you'll need to find out where the leak is coming from. you can either fill it again and add dye to it, or pressurize the system with compressed air and spray the joints with water to look for bubbling. These systems have rubberized washers that degrade and leak.. but your leak sounds much worse then that.

fleetmgr

Chances are its either the compressor crankshaft seal, or the compressor case seal. You can get either from the dealer and do it yourself, or get a new compressor. Dealerships don't repair things at the component level much anymore, which is why you got the quote you did. In fact there aren't many private shops that do it, either. There's no money in actually removing, repairing and reinstalling unless it's something like an engine or a tranny.