So I haven't used my AC in ages, it was fixed RIGHT before winter and I haven't touched it until today, it was working absolutely perfectly last time I did use it however and now today when I turn it on, it gets cold and seems to work but causes the WORST most loud metal on metal screeching noise... It starts with what sounds like some rubber squeaking, can anyone tell me what the heck is going on??? We aren't sure which part of the pully system the noise is coming from but we do know that the tensioner pully, which we replaced not too long ago starts to shake in an odd way right before the noise.

The compressor/accumulator HAVE in fact been replaced and seem to still work.

The entirety of my pully system has gotten extremely LOUD very grindy and old sounding which isn't a big deal we knew it's been wearing out and plan to replace it soon enough. As far as we can tell the noise is not associated with the engine at all. Engine still seems to be running smooth as can be at 200k miles with regular checkups and oil changes.

25th anniversary RS V8 5.0 if that helps at all.

 

Sounds kinda like maybe the belt is slipping.

Try a new belt and tensioner assy. Maybe an idler too.

 

Or maybe the A/C clutch making a ruckus..

 

Get a piece of heater hose and STICK IT IN YOUR EAR!!! (I just LOVE telling people to do that) and point the other end at different things while the car is running and making the noise, to pinpoint the source. Obviously be VERY CAREFUL around the fan and other moving parts.

 

Yea... we arent sure its any type of slipping noise my dad listened to it and it damn near made him jump 20 feet it was so loud. Like the titanic hitting iceberg kind of metal screeching. Im worried about the ac being the issue because we had just bought it at the time and one of the seals was bad and had to be replaced...

 

If it's the old R4 compressor, then i'd cut my losses and replace it with the type classic auto air sells. I just did an entire retrofit. Can't even tell the AC is running when you turn it on. Takes like 2hp instead of 14 like the factory compressor did.

 

Yea, sorry I forgot I had a post on this ages ago. The compressor was a rebuild, and we found out that quite literally every single seal went bad on it, my mechanic thinks that water got in and rusted the clutch or something. It was a total hunk of junk breaking after a year. It's a mechanic I can trust too been going to him for like 8 years. Always has great prices too.