A/C quit

[Viper5]

I went to a shop today and was told that my compressor had locked up. I even saw that the inside metal circular piece was misaligned with the outside metal circular piece (not sure if that makes sense the way I'm saying it). He told me because of how fried it looked that there was probably metal pieces in the system and that I need a new compressor, expander, and dryer. Does this sound right? He told me it would be better to get the parts myself and then he would charge $470 to do all labor.

[SoK]

try recharging it first, it's only $40 or so. Go pick up a bottle from autozone or whatever and follow the guides that can be found via google or this website. it's basically running the car for a few minutes with the AC on and the fan at full speed, plugging in the pressure guage and charging to the propper pressure. anyone can do it, it's very easy. Check the guide on pelican parts. worked great for me, i recharged my 2001 back in april or may and it's blowing ice cold still.

[Viper5]

I saw the compressor myself. It is definitely not aligned right and looks like it is no longer usable. I feel confident in that mechanics advice too. He didn't even charge me anything after everything was said and done.

[SoK]

that's good, I always have a tough time trusting mechanics in my area, so if you trust them, it sounds like you might have found someone to use down the road.

[Meir]

Originally Posted by Viper5

I went to a shop today and was told that my compressor had locked up. I even saw that the inside metal circular piece was misaligned with the outside metal circular piece (not sure if that makes sense the way I'm saying it). He told me because of how fried it looked that there was probably metal pieces in the system and that I need a new compressor, expander, and dryer. Does this sound right? He told me it would be better to get the parts myself and then he would charge $470 to do all labor.

look for a used compressor on line, and buy a new dryer (relatively cheap).
the price for the job sound fair enough.
i paid 260$ for evacuation and recharge of the system, so additional 200 for the whole job is not that bad. (assuming Freon,AC oil and O-rings are included in the price).