98 Jeep Grand Cherokee Question

[love them hogs]

Originally Posted by cpayne5

The evaporator has nothing to do w/ the belt. With the symptoms described, it's almost a certainty that your compressor has seized, PFunk.

The a/c compressor has a clutch on it. When the a/c is turned on from the cab the clutch is engaged which transfers power from the spinning pulley to the internal parts of the compressor. The smoke comes from when the clutch is engaged. The clutch engages, but then the pulley is locked up to the compressor (seized, and not spinning), which makes the belt skid across it, creating smoke.

This is right on in my opinion as far as the A/C goes.The exhaust, on the other hand,is a look and see type problem.Like someone said before , it could be as simple as a loose heat shield but it could also be that the cat is clogged.If it turns out that it is the cat and you live in an emmisions controlled state then you should replace it.If you dont have emmisions then cut it and gut it.You just cut the pipe coming out at the front or back , take a pry bar or long screwdriver and gut it out.You or someone who has a mig welder will have to weld it back up.Hope this helps.


p.s
go for an AFTERMARKET compressor, not O.E.M (that stands for original equipment manufacturer i.e the people who made your car) and make sure that whoever re charges the system puts oil back into the system.This is a common mistake made by technicians.It wont cause any problems right away but in a year or two you will be shopping for another compressor.