Challenger A/C noise

Smokey, Book her in for a service at your local Mitsubishi dealer, from your very brief description could be clutch related issue on the Air Con or a pulley. If you haven't used the air con for a while soemtimes the Air Con Clutch or pulley can become a little sticky for want of a better term, nevertheless put it on your "To Check" list when the vehicle goes in for service.

You did not mention if the vehicle had been serviced since purchase or if the vehicle was inspected prior to purchase.?

check your idler pulleys and tensioners

Hi Smokey. You need to look under your bonnet with the air and engine operating. Have the heater fan inside on the low speed setting. Watch the Air Con. compressor at the front. It should be spinning at the pulley speed. If the noise is evident wait untill the front stops spinning.(it will stop when the thermostat inside the cabin gets down to the correct temperature) If the noise goes away it will be a problem inside the compressor and you will need an A/C specialist to look at it. The compressor will cycle in and out as the temperature inside the cabin rises and falls. If the noise is there continuously even with the comp. clutch not spinning then you will have to look at clutch/pulley/idler bearings. Hope that helps. Bob.

hi smokey i had the same sound in my pajero,took me a while to work it out,found that the condensor fan (the one at the front of the radiator)had packed it in,it works fine ,nice and cold especially when your travelling,but once you stop at lights or get stuck in traffic ,especially when its a hot day ,theres not enough airflow thru the condensor to condense and cool the a/c gas which then sends the head pressures thru the roof and causes the compressor to struggle, it will moan and groan and the belt will start to slip as the compressor binds up, once you get moving again the natural air flow cools the gas and all is good again.
to check if it working, with the car off see if you can spin the fan by hand,grab hold of it and see if its loose(bearing problem), start her up turn the a/c on and check if the condensor fan comes on, it should come on straight away,
it might not be the problem but its worth a shot,please let us know how you go

HI SmokeyD- we had a similar problem with our challenger. We had repeated problems with the air-con pulley- which our service mechanic replaced several times. Usually we would have a belt noise, then after the belt was replaced the pulley would go, then the belt noise would reappear. Made me think there was an underlying problem to cause this. We also had the "thud" when turning the air con on. Having said that- the air con worked fine the whole time. Never did get it sorted whilst we owned the car(4 years). So I guess what I am saying is- if you end up diagnosing a belt/pulley bearing problem- might pay to look a little further for the cause.cheers,doc.
ps- I hear you when you say you can't trust your local Mitsi mechanic- although in my (awful) experience- it is not only dealer mechanics, I've had problems with both dealer and non dealer mechanics. Pays to learn some basics if you can. But don't get too disillusioned and tar them all with the same brush. There are some good outfits out there- just a case of finding them and establishing a good relationship.doc.

take it to an Air/Conditioning specialist .
thats there business . sounds like the bearing on the compressor
not the clutch
mechpete

smokey .I,m trying to help you out . have come across this problem a lot
you asked for help . it most likely will be the bearing in the compressor not the clutch .
because it only turns when the A/C is on
mechpete

So many experts and only one right answer that got swept under the carpet.... good on you "dave e (QLD)" for answering correctly.

When traveling your getting good air flow over the condenser but when you stop your compressor head pressures increase to a point where the high pressure switch cuts the compressor out with a thud, when the pressure drops to a satisfactory pressure the compressor engages again ..... at 300 psi a compressor will draw around 7 hp and then a bit to start driving.

Check you viscous engine fan to see if it is engaging correctly and also have a look at your aux fan.

Grab a garden hose and on a warm day run your car and when it starts to do it spray the condenser with a fine mist of water..... if it settles down you have a condensing problems that can be caused by a blocked condenser (internally or externally) or to much refrigerant but 9/10 times it is caused by poor air flow.


"Only go to "specialists" as a last resort. Very often you can save lots of money by doing your own research - rather than paying for their time."

I would go to a specialist as we usually know what we are talking about and very often we can save you lots of money...... by stopping DIYers replacing parts that aren't necessary or destroying perfectly good parts.

But then again DIYers make us make more money!

I would listen to "dave e (QLD)"