A/C compressor Leak & Bad Clutch?

From : Annonymous

Q: first off sorry for the long thread. hi i have a 2000 dodge dakota quad cab 4x4 4.7 lt v8. i bought it used and just got around to getting the a/c recharged because it wasnt blowing cold air. i took it to my highschool because they offer a free a/c recharge pay for freeon thats all. well they gave it back to me at the end of the day saying that they recharged it and to the best of their knowledge it had no leak. they tested the temp. on it and it read 40.8 degrees f. the next day i turned the a/c on and got warm air. i checked under the hood and the a/c compressor clutch wasnt engaging so i took it back to the highschool shop to see whats up with it. he told me that the compressor wasnt engagin and that it would have to be looked at tommorow. so me being the dumb a## that i am attempted a test i found on the internet you guys know as jumping the clutch to test if it was working. i hooked up a positive and negative wire from the battery to the positive and negative hookup on the compressor was this bad to do. the compressor didnt engage so i figured id stop before i wrecked anything. the next day at the shop the teacher discovered their was a leak that had drained almost all the freon in the system within 24 hours. the leak was located up by the radiator area they used an electric freeon detector and they belive its coming from up there. so that takes care of my leak problem i know that there is a leak up front and that is probably why the clutch wont engage. but the clutch is blowing a fuse when ever it is plugged in now and turned on this statred from the best of my knowledge when i tried jumping the clutch. its a 20 amp fuse shared by the horn only. did i fry my clutch by jumping the wires or is it just because there is no freon left in the system also is there anyway that i can possibly fix this leak on my own the shop quotes to have it fixed are rediculous. thank you all so much for the help -david .

Replies:

From : tom lawrence

first off sorry for the long thread. and the double post as well... wire from the battery to the positive and negative hookup on the compressor was this bad to do. yep. the normal way to jump the clutch to check if the clutch still engages when you suspect a low charge and you dont have a set of gauges to put on the system to really see whats going on is to remove the low pressure cutoff switch connector located on top of the accumulator and short the two pins in the connector. if it was just the low pressure switch preventing the compressor clutch from engaging this will make the clutch engage. dont do it for more than a second or so because the compressor really shouldnt be operated without a charge and the lube that goes with it. did i fry my clutch by jumping the wires or is it just because there is no freon left in the system if it were just the low charge you wouldnt be blowing fuses. i believe you fried your clutch. also is there anyway that i can possibly fix this leak on my own the shop quotes to have it fixed are rediculous. look... there are some things a diyer can handle - and some things best left to the people who know what theyre doing and have the tools necessary to do the job. this is one of those situations. .