Need some help. Mystique dies when AC is turned on

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I am Contour/Mystique noobie here, and I need some suggestions.

My Sister inlaw is giving me her Mystique to use as my daily driver, but it is currently not running. When the car was last running, she turned the ac on, and the car killed. The place they towed the car too is suggesting a new compressor or a compressor bypass to get the car running again. When I get my hands on the car, what kind of things can I check for myself? Do they make a compressor bypass kit for these cars? Like I said, the car is going to be a daily driver, and I am not really concerned about the ac working or not.

The car is a 1995 4 cylinder auto with about 100k miles on it.

Thanks.

Possibly a locked comopressor (or a compressor ready to go out). You can get a shorter serpentine belt to by-pass the a/c compressor.

Originally posted by pre98zetec:
Possibly a locked comopressor (or a compressor ready to go out). You can get a shorter serpentine belt to by-pass the a/c compressor.

So it is possible to throw a shorter belt on there to bypass the compressor without removing the compressor on a temp basis?

Any idea on what size belt I would need to do this?

yes you can run a belt by-passing the a/c.. I don't know the belt size offhand, when you go to autozone just tell them you want a belt to by-pass the ac.

Welcome

. Figure 11 for serpentine belt routing without A/C for the Zetec 2.0. In addition, after putting in the correct information for your car, (year, engine, etc.) click "buy it here today" for the belt and the belt information will be up. You can buy the belt from Autozone, Advance or Ford Dealer.
http://www.autozone.com/servlet/UiBroker?ForwardPage=/az/cds/en_us/0900823d/80/1b/be/f3/0900823d801bbef3.jsp

Originally posted by Tony2005:
Welcome . Figure 11 for serpentine belt routing without A/C for the Zetec 2.0. In addition, after putting in the correct information for your car, (year, engine, etc.) click "buy it here today" for the belt and the belt information will be up. You can buy the belt from Autozone, Advance or Ford Dealer.
http://www.autozone.com/servlet/UiBroker?ForwardPage=/az/cds/en_us/0900823d/80/1b/be/f3/0900823d801bbef3.jsp

Thats what I am looking for. Thanks!

You're willing to run without AC in THIS summer's heat! Not me!

Maybe the Mystique will be a winter car? There should be a small gap between the clutch face and the pulley, and with the car off you should be able to turn the clutch face by hand (stiffly), that's an easy compressor test. Could be the pulley bearing is bad. The clutch/pulley be replaced without changing the whole compressor.

Went and looked at the car real quick this morning. Turns out it is a 99, not a 95. Cut the drivebelt off and the car started right up, so its either the pulley or the compressor. So I am going to pickup a shorter belt for the time being and get the car home(its about 50 miles away.)I didn't get a chance to mess around with the compressor pulley today, but when I get the car home I will.

The only other problem I need to address to get the car to pass inspection is the drivers side rear taillight. It doesn't light up with the brakes or the turnsignal, and the bulbs appear to be in good shape. Might be a lamp socket or wiring problem.

As far as the AC goes, I drive a Coca Cola truck for a living, and it doesn't have AC, so I have gotten used to going with it. Hell, I can count on one hand how many times I have used the AC in my Mustang GT, so its not a big deal to go without it.

I just noticed you live in LA-Louisiana. You have some heat tolerance built up

I live in upstate NY, it is hot enough..Is your work truck like a UPS or stepvan truck? It might be worth checking other pulleys as well as the alternator. A free car that runs is hard to beat.

It's newer than mine..

Originally posted by FavoriteMystaque:
I just noticed you live in LA-Louisiana. You have some heat tolerance built up I live in upstate NY, it is hot enough..Is your work truck like a UPS or stepvan truck? It might be worth checking other pulleys as well as the alternator. A free car that runs is hard to beat. It's newer than mine..

Its called a 12 bay truck. Its a 33,000lb. straight truck (no trailer), and the only AC on this beast is the side windows

Let me see if I still have a picture online. Its just like this one:

Pretty much everything else accessory wise has been changed on the car. Waterpump, powersteering, altenator were just recently replaced, tranny flushed, etc. All it really needs is probably some plugs/wires, air filter, pvc, oil change and a seafoam treatment. Oh and a really good cleaning out. It never ceases to amaze me how a woman can completely just turn a car into a pig pen on wheels

I recently saw two very shiny Coca-Cola 18 wheelers, maybe that is the next step up for you. Even bigger! There is a large local bottling plant in Rochester NY.

Quote:

It never ceases to amaze me how a woman can completely just turn a car into a pig pen on wheels

I agree, many minivans are hazardous inside!