Long time lurker, first time poster

I am out of town right now and my AC quit working today. It was blowing ice cold when I parked this morning, started it up this afternoon and no AC.

The compressor is not kicking on. The AC light does light up on the dash when i push the button. I did some basic troubleshooting, including checking all related fuses and they are good. Jumped the low pressure switch, still nothing. Relay on the fuse panel under the hood tests OK. Ran test leads with a known good ground and known good +12v directly to the wiring harness on the compressor and it still doesn't click.

Just looking for confirmation and other suggestions I guess -- is the clutch assembly bad?

2001 Chevy Suburban 1500 w/ 5.3L V8, with about 185k miles

 

what year, eng etc?

 

Sorry, my browser crashed halfway through my first attempt so i forgot to include that info:

2001 Chevy Suburban 1500, 5.3L V8, has front and rear AC

If it makes any difference, I replaced the AC tensioner pulley about 3 weeks ago. While underneath the car today troubleshooting, I noticed it seemed to be bouncing around a bit. Not a lot, but enough that it looked "off"

 

you probably need a compressor clutch but unless you have the specific tools you will be into a compressor assembly.

 

With the proper tools - can the clutch be replaced leaving the compressor on the vehicle? That would avoid me having to do the whole purge & recharge thing?

 

if you have the denso compressor you might be able to.

 

I would do one more double check with the voltage applied to the clutch, if its not engaging I would have to agree its the clutch coil....
Attached is the removal process for the Denso...I can post the HT6 HD6 and HU6 but is definitely a bit more involved....

 

Thanks for the replies. Is it common for the coil to go out like that in these compressors? With voltage applied, I should hear it click even when the engine is not running, right?

 

yep.

The circuit has a diode in it to absorb voltage spikes for when the clutch coil cycles off. I would be polarity correct when powering the circuit. I'm thinking it might damage the diode if full voltage is applied in the wrong direction.