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AC belt snapped, maybe seized pump?


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My friend (whom has had a few problems on his 1996 outback, which I'm trying to fix today) brought his car over a few weeks back. He said he had a check engine light on for fan operation, but he cleared it and said it hadn't came back. I opened up the hood and saw that his AC belt had snapped. Then looking closer, it looks like it was eaten away by rubbing against something. So, I had him turn his ac on, and when he did I could not turn the AC pump pulley by hand at all. When AC is off I can, but the clutch is not engaged I assume. So would that mean it is seized? I figure I should be able to turn it by hand...

 

If seized, how up the river is he and how can we tell what needs to be replaced. I've never liked messing with AC, but I've heard that if the pump goes, the rest of the system may be infected with metal and that it is safest to replace all the parts... Any thoughts?

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Does he need A/C up there for more than one week a year? The A/C is on it's own belt I think, so just leave it off and don't worry about it. Every time I've taken a car in with ANYTHING A/C related, I tend to get quotes in the $1200+ range, so I decide I can do without it.

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It's possible, if the compressor has seized, that the system has been contaminated. (Google ''compressor black death'' for one possible scenario.) However, that isn't always the case.

 

Any way to check? Visual inspection? Can I clean the system?

 

Does he need AC, no... But if he wants to sell the car, it is a nice selling point. We live in central WA, shrub step climate (one step above dessert.) So we've got a the single digit highs right now, with triple digits in the summer... So some people like the AC, but it isn't really humid here...

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We live in central WA, shrub step climate (one step above dessert.) So we've got a the single digit highs right now, with triple digits in the summer... So some people like the AC, but it isn't really humid here...

 

Oh. that's alot different than Seattle. I grew up north of Spokane, so we had lots of that in the summer. One time I was in Seattle when it was a hot dry 90 degree summer day -- normal, right? and everyone was freaking out :)

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