AC help questions

[s-10fan262]

1995 lt1 trans am..ive had my car for more than 5 years with no ac ive decided to buy a used compressor from a guy on facebook and it got here but when i spin the pully theres a bad grinding sound...he said its just surface rust go ahead and install it will go away....is this true ? or did i get screwed ? also does the ac on a lt1 work well or just delete it? i was gona get it goin so my lil girl cood go with on hot days..

[hoogiesngrinderz]

Spinning the pulley or the clutch assembly?

I would never buy a used AC compressor that I couldn't put my hands on. Ideally you should buy a new or reman unit that's prefilled with the correct amount and type of PAG oil, flush the evaporator and condenser, and install a new dryer and all new seals. Draw a vacuum on the system for quite some time (30 minutes to an hour) and then monitor the manifold for any vacuum loss. If it holds, fill with the correct amount of refrigerant.

[s-10fan262]

spinning the pully....wow if its that much work ill just go with delete kit

[DanDalessandro]

I've never used my AC, rolling down the windows and popping my ttops out was just fine for me.

[TrickyTransAm]

If its grinding quite a bit - It's likely that the compressor clutch is shot, and soon the front seal.

Were the ports of the compressor sealed, or left open? I'd check your system first before swapping in an unknown (and possibly dirty) compressor.
I use a heated diode refrigerant detector by checking the connections and components for trouble of a leak. Sometimes it's just dry rotted O-rings if the system hasn't been used in a long time.

If you want to swap in parts properly, you want to replace the accumulator/Dryer, oriface filter, and Compressor with new seals, assuming it's the compressor that's leaking.
Flush the lines out with a refrigerant flush including the condenser.
Measure the amount of PAG oil that comes out of the dryer, and the Compressor.
Put back in fresh PAG oil into your new dryer & compressor.

If you don't replace the oriface filter and dryer - whatever contamination was in your system will find it's way into the new compressor and quickly destroy it.
Put your new seals on, including o-ring seals, and then pull a vacuum on the system for at least 10 minutes. If the vacuum holds, you should be good to go.

If you don't have the tools to put a vacuum on - take it to a shop, and they will pull a vacuum for you. If it doesn't hold vacuum, they will not fill the system.
I never had any luck with UV Dye. I purchased the heated diode sensor and it's been spot on.