Coming home from Indy, it sounded like an M80 went off under the car. Lots of smoke. A/C quit working.
I discovered that the high side (discharge) hose actually slipped out of the crimp, just after the "muffler" in the line. (Made a hell of a noise.)
What is likely to cause this? I'm thinking there's an obstruction somewhere. Please read on...
The last time I had the orifice tube out, the fluid was very dark, but there were no solids, and the tube wasn't blocked.
Background...
It's a 4.9 conversion. Uses the Caddy compressor. Everything else looks to be stock Fiero. There are no pressure switches on the compressor. The only compressor connections are to the clutch coil. Still have the low pressure switch on the accumulator.
When the compressor cuts off, the low side pressure seems to be extremely high. When it kicks on, the pressure drops to normal levels (well... before it blew the hose off, anyway.) Don't know if that's significant or not. IIRC, it's always been that way.
The system seems to have lost some efficiency over the years. Before I found a leak near the orifice tube, it has typically required a recharge every summer.
The compressor still dragged on the engine when it kicked in, so I have to believe it's working. Before the hose blew off, it was cooling fairly well.
Anyone? Any help will be greatly appreciated.