A/c Compressor

[pittsbfan2000]

It started on a 4 hour trip to pittsburgh, once i arrived to my destination i was parking the car and it died. It started back up but was running rough. I had the AC on, so once i turned it off the car ran perfect.

Now 2 months later( i've kept the a/c off all of the time), I turn the a/c on and the car idles a little rougher and I can hear some type of noise from the engine. The a/c will blow Cold air.

Any thoughts? Does this sound like a compressor only issue?

1991 LS400

[flanker271]

your compressor is about to go south. If you hear a whining like sound, its your compressor bearing. Your engine stalls because the compressor puts extra load on it, and a bad bearing increases friction.

You can have your compressor rebuilt, get a remanfactured, or a new compressor.

[new_owner]

I had the same problem and had to replace the compressor. I got it from ebay (rebuilt one of course) for about $225 which is much cheaper than any other shops around..

[VGR]

My understanding is the magnetic clutch on the compressor is typically what fails, not the compressor itself (unless the compressor was run low on refrigeration oil)

My understanding also is that the magnetic clutch simply bolts on and off and doesn't even require the AC system to be discharged and recharged with refrigerant. So the savvy Toyota / Lexus owner simply buys a new magnetic clutch when the compressor gets noisy or quits.

On the other hand, I have no personal experience replacing Toyota magnetic clutches because mine have never worn out yet.

[flanker271]

so the whining is the clutch not the bearing? Or is the bearing located on the clutch?