Cracked Compressor

[Dgreen]

I replaced the compressor on a 2001 Tahoe about a year and a half ago. The clutch was bad on the old compressor. The owner said it started short cycling while he was out of town. He had it diagnosed and they said the compressor case had a crack in it. It has front and rear air. He would like me to work on it when he gets back home. My questions are what would cause the case to crack and what are the chances of a successful repair if I replace the compressor, condenser, accumulator, and orifice tube?

[tbirdtbird]

First verify that the case is actually cracked. It could be anything, not all shops are genius-rated.
Next, check over the mounting points. Either something is out of line, has shifted, or a bolt missing, etc. Was the vehicle in a minor mishap that he did not tell you about that nudged the alignment of engine components out of place?
The mounting bolts should be able to go in and out with ease, and nothing should have to be forced.
Belt too tight?

Why a new condenser?

[Dgreen]

I was worried about possible debris from the compressor. I wasn’t sure how it failed. Can also get a better compressor warranty if the condenser is also changed.

[tbirdtbird]

Do yourself a favor and at least price what you need from Tim, the site owner. His prices are extremely good

[Dgreen]

I got a chance to look at this one again yesterday. No refrigerant left in the system. System leaked fast when pressurized with nitrogen. Took the compressor off and it has an obvious shaft seal leak. Is there anything I should look for that may have caused the shaft seal to start leaking so quickly? Belt and tensioner look like they were replaced when I did the compressor. The owner said he noticed the compressor was sometimes noisy when it would start up. Could that have been liquid refrigerant settling at the compressor?

[tbirdtbird]

"Belt and tensioner look like they were replaced when I did the compressor."
Confused. Did YOU replace these items? Otherwise how can we be sure they are new. You should be able to check alignment by eye with belt turning, compressor off.
A comp being slugged by liquid refrigerant will indeed make noise, but also not last very long. From this distance we can't be sure that is what is happening. Also there are many causes of slugging

[Dgreen]

I checked with the parts store. I did replace the belt and tensioner.

The parts store said there was a recall on these vehicles due to refrigerant slugging. The fix was programming the system to cycle on and off when it first starts up.

I didn't get much oil out of the compressor when I took it off.

[DetroitAC]

Sounds like a rebuilt compressor to me. Compressor reassembled not quite straight, so the bolts and mounting lugs put a torque on the shell, and they didn't bother to put a new shaft seal in.

[Cusser]

The parts store said there was a recall on these vehicles due to refrigerant slugging. The fix was programming the system to cycle on and off when it first starts up.

I had the "slugging" issue on our 2005 Yukon Denali with rear AC, kept breaking the AC belt but still cooled great until the belt broke; there was a noise associated with this. Apparently the slugging was due to the compressor being so low on the engine; I didn't find any information about any recall.

I gambled and just purchased a brand-new compressor and a Four Seasons deslugging module (that is said to help prevent slugging, but won't do anything on a compressor/system that already has the slugging issue). So I didn't touch the condenser, accumulator, or orifice tube as the unit still cooled. So that is my experience with this, was fine for at least 5 years until we sold it.

When we bought a 2011 Yukon, I swapped the deslugger module over to that before I sold the 2005. The module simply plugs into the wires to the compressor.

[Dgreen]

Compressor wasn’t cracked. It had an obvious leak at the case halves and shaft seal. Replaced the compressor and going to change the fan clutch in case it was causing high pressure.