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The A/C compressor is the heart of the automotive A/C system. It is responsible for pumping and circulating the refrigerant (freon) throughout the system. Interestingly enough, the A/C compressor is the only moving part of the A/C system and therefore, the only part that requires lubrication or oil .
When functioning, A/C compressor generates a lot of heat. That’s because it’s compressing the refrigerant (or freon) and refrigerant has a pressure/temperature relationship. Whatever you do to one.. you automatically do to the other. Therefore, just compressing the refrigerant (increasing the pressure) automatically increases the temperature of the refrigerant. That’s why there’s so much heat being generated.
The single largest cause of compressor failure is the lack of lubrication and cooling. These typically go hand in hand because of the design of the system and how it works.
A/C compressors also fail leaks, either external or internally. External leaks can be repaired, however the cost of labor can make that prohibitive. Doing a complete reseal on any A/C compressor is usually several hours of labor. Depending on the labor charges in your market, replacement may be the more economical method of repair.
Internal leaks are where high and low pressures leak inside the compressor. Remember that the compressor is one point in the A/C system that separates high and low pressures. Therefore, when the compressor leaks internally, the high pressure is ‘bleeding’ back into the low pressure side. That will reduce the compressor’s ability to generate the proper pressures and reduce the cooling performance of the A/C system.
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