[Superfan]

May 2016 has not been a kind month for my Outlook, third significant failure to drop into my lap in as many weeks.

Yesterday, on a 30 C day the A/C decided to stop working, just blowing hot air. Was working fine the day before.

I could tell the compressor was not running (its been getting louder as the Outlook has aged so it doesn't surprise me that it would give up the ghost). Is replacing the compressor something that is doable for an average DIYer?

 

[rbarrios]

so the compressor itself is bad-- but its still full of the refrigerant?


I would thing a shop has to evacuate the refrigerant...

 

[Squerl101]

If the compressor is refusing to run, the refrigerant pressure sensor has prevented it from running due to lack of refrigerant in the system, to prevent damage to the compressor.

Did you notice a decrease in performance of the A/C system before it stopped working all together? If it was a sudden loss of all cold air, perhaps the compressor clutch or compressor is bad. If the clutch is bad, I'd replace the whole compressor anyway since the compressor probably wouldn't have much life left in it anyway.

Have a look at this link. I have taken screenshots from GM Service Information on the replacement procedure for the A/C Compressor.

http://imgur.com/a/j81F9

 

[Superfan]

Ok...so getting back to this one. I was way off on my initial assessment. I realized this soon after I posted when cold air returned miraculously but could not be counted on reliably and seemed to fail at the worst times.

After further investigation on the lambda forums, this led me to the conclusion that the AC was working fine - but the actuators that control the temperature blend doors were not.

I replaced both the drivers and passenger climate control actuators, following this excellent writeup in the Enclave forum: http://www.enclaveforum.net/index.php?topic=23505.0 Reliable cold AC has returned to my Outlook


P.S. The sound which I had previously thought was the AC compressor I now think is produced by the engine bay fans.