Vettenut
Junior Member
- Joined
- Mar 28, 2021
- Posts
- 10
- Reaction score
- 17
- Location
- Arizona
- First Name
- Blaine
- Truck Year
- 1984
- Truck Model
- Silverado K10
- Engine Size
- 305
Thanks to a post in a sister forum, I think I found the source of the noise from my A/C compressor.
I had recently replaced the compressor, accumulator, orifice tube and hose manifold on my '84 Silverado due to a severe rattling noise from the compressor area. I had also thoroughly flushed the remaining hard line, evaporator and condenser finding no signs of "black death" or any type of debris in the liquid that was flushed from system. Triumphantly, I took the vehicle to the local repair shop to have them vacuum the system down, and install the R134A they had evacuated from the system prior to my DIY repair. When the system was checked and filled, I had ice cold air with no noise!!!
To my dismay, the rattling noises I experienced prior to the repairs was back within a week. System was still blowing ice cold, and the noise was only apparent at idle, if RPM's were increased, even slightly, the noise went away.
I started searching this forum, Youtube, Google, and everywhere I could think. Then I found it, a post on the Corvette forum describing the exact issue, and explaining what they had found. Simply loose and missing hardware from the compressor, allowing the compressor to become loose after a short time, resulting in the rattle. When I examined my system, I found a missing washer from the one mounting point and actually a missing nut from one mounting bracket, (see photos below).
I then realized that the initial noise to the first compressor only started after a mobile "technician" had removed the compressor to gain access to the valve cover on the drivers side to replace the gasket. I had been very careful when I replaced the compressor to make sure everything went back the way it was found, not knowing that the previous "technician" had failed to do the same.
With a quick trip to Ace hardware, I got the missing parts, returned home and installed them, then nervously hit the key, and, shazam!! no more noise.
The fact that I had just spent several hundred dollars in parts, plus my time to replace components that were probably not needed was bad enough, but what really frosted me was that I had taken the vehicle to 2 different shops to have the noise diagnosed, and they both said it needed a compressor, and of course all the other parts of the system because they were obviously contaminated, repairs would total well over $1,000.00!!
My points on this post are two fold, 1st, the obvious fix is not always the correct fix, and 2nd, as most of us already know, there are a bunch of "technicians" out there that while maybe not being criminal in intent, don't do the proper diagnosis before starting to run up the bill by throwing parts at a problem.
I had recently replaced the compressor, accumulator, orifice tube and hose manifold on my '84 Silverado due to a severe rattling noise from the compressor area. I had also thoroughly flushed the remaining hard line, evaporator and condenser finding no signs of "black death" or any type of debris in the liquid that was flushed from system. Triumphantly, I took the vehicle to the local repair shop to have them vacuum the system down, and install the R134A they had evacuated from the system prior to my DIY repair. When the system was checked and filled, I had ice cold air with no noise!!!
To my dismay, the rattling noises I experienced prior to the repairs was back within a week. System was still blowing ice cold, and the noise was only apparent at idle, if RPM's were increased, even slightly, the noise went away.
I started searching this forum, Youtube, Google, and everywhere I could think. Then I found it, a post on the Corvette forum describing the exact issue, and explaining what they had found. Simply loose and missing hardware from the compressor, allowing the compressor to become loose after a short time, resulting in the rattle. When I examined my system, I found a missing washer from the one mounting point and actually a missing nut from one mounting bracket, (see photos below).
I then realized that the initial noise to the first compressor only started after a mobile "technician" had removed the compressor to gain access to the valve cover on the drivers side to replace the gasket. I had been very careful when I replaced the compressor to make sure everything went back the way it was found, not knowing that the previous "technician" had failed to do the same.
With a quick trip to Ace hardware, I got the missing parts, returned home and installed them, then nervously hit the key, and, shazam!! no more noise.
The fact that I had just spent several hundred dollars in parts, plus my time to replace components that were probably not needed was bad enough, but what really frosted me was that I had taken the vehicle to 2 different shops to have the noise diagnosed, and they both said it needed a compressor, and of course all the other parts of the system because they were obviously contaminated, repairs would total well over $1,000.00!!
My points on this post are two fold, 1st, the obvious fix is not always the correct fix, and 2nd, as most of us already know, there are a bunch of "technicians" out there that while maybe not being criminal in intent, don't do the proper diagnosis before starting to run up the bill by throwing parts at a problem.
