Attempting to fix A/C

[Boxhead629]

So a few months back I was driving the TJ and I noticed a burnt rubber smell coming from up front, popped the hood and saw a little smoke coming from my ac compressor. The smell and smoke shortly went away but my ac also stopped blowing cold at the same time. Few weeks later the jeep won't start at all, replaced the battery because it was about time to anyway and it still didn't start. So I thought maybe it had to do with the ac compressor since that was acting up before, so I bought a serpentine belt that bypasses the compressor and the jeep started. So now that its getting warm I'm actually gonna try and tackle this problem, Any advice before I start throwing money at this thing? Currently the pulley on the AC compressor won't budge when I try to spin by hand, don't know if its a bearing, clutch, or if the whole thing is seized.

 

[Vtx531]

I would HIGHLY recommend getting a book either from online or library about automotive AC repair. Read it before you start!

It is doable as DIY but is quite complicated to do correctly. There is way more to it than most people have any idea.

 

[CharlesHS]

You should either get a friend or family member that is experienced with Air Conditioning to either replace the compressor OR supervise you while you are doing the compressor replacement.
There are quite a few steps in changing the compressor along with evacuating, flushing, and charging the system along with parts that you should consider replacing when replacing the compressor such as the receiver/drier, refrigerant, compressor oil and O rings.
You will need a refrigerant manifold, vacuum pump, and a way to weigh in or approximately guess the amount of refrigerant added.

 

[qslim]

Did your compressor clutch seize up? Go out there & try to spin the compressor pulley. The outer part of the pulley should spin freely, the inside part (connected to the compressor internals) should stay put & not rotate.

Edit: I'm an idiot & apparently didn't read your whole post. Yeah, sounds like at the very least the clutch is seized. Head over to the TJ Resources sub forum & download your free pdf manual & look at removing the clutch. It also has all the info you'll need on changing the compressor. Between that, youtube, Harbor freight & this place you should be golden.

 

[Claytone]

It sounds like the compressor seized. It may have barfed out its internals thru the system. You’ll need to pull the refrigerant out and inspect. If it’s full of sparkles or Black Death, it will need a thorough flush and/or multiple parts replaced.
If no sparkles or other angry things are present, you can probably just do a compressor and drier.
AC work isn’t rocket science, but it does require some tools and research.
If you don’t have access to the tools, you may want to have a shop look at it. If it’s just part replacement and no flushing you can do that yourself and then have them evac and charge it back up.
You’re in the south, so there’s no shortage of good AC shops.