QC missed something-- AC Compressor making a whining noise under engine load

[Kyle.Gilmour]

From mile 6 on the odometer I noticed a whining noise coming from my car at certain RPMs. I had a 200 mile drive home from Classic Chevrolet in Dallas to Austin. I heard the noise.. but seeing how I not haven't driven Camaro... or a manual sports car before I didn't pay too much attention.

Part way through my drive I noticed this whining noise would stop and come back and was related to engine RPM. It started to peak my interest. I could not place where the noise was coming coming from. I thought, well its either the rear end, the tranny, or under the hood. (really narrowed it down)

Having already bugged Tag that first trip home and since I was already going to go see SilverTurtle for the Buda, TX Cruise In I decided to get his opinion. Turtle is pretty much a genius and to my surprise he was stumped too... but only for a few minutes.

He heard the noise at 2g in 1st, at 2g in 3rd and even some in 5th gear. 'Ok' Turtle says, its not just a single gear. Then he revved it with the clutch in... and heard the noise. Alright.. so it is before the transmission.
We then popped the hood and he could tell right off the bat that it was coming from the AC compressor. Seeing how we are at 60 days straight of 100 degree weather my AC never gets shut off, so I never made that connection.

Off to the dealership. I took it in today,
the official diagnostic from Henna Chevrolet was that the internal bearings are not aligned properly and they are making noise, the whole unit needs to be replaced. It is safe to drive, and they did not have a compressor in stock or the belt (the belt has to be cut away to switch compressors), so I am gonna go pick it back up today and drop it off Sunday before I head out of town on business.

And I was kidding about QC, a bad AC Compressor that still blows out ice cold air would be a hard catch

[VR Code R6P]

My 05 GTO made a lot of noise when the AC compressor cycled on and off, but not always. Dealer said when they checked it, it was OK. It always blew cold air, but I hated having an AC compressor that is louder than the engine!

[VR Code R6P]

I would like to know how did the dealership determined the bearings were not aligned correctly, by listening to it??

[Kyle.Gilmour]

Yea, it is definitely louder than the car when inside.

They must have just been listening to it, because they gave it back to me after a couple hours so I doubt they went into the compressor at all.

I am sure this is a one off problem, havent heard of anyone else with a 5th gen having this issue

[GTAHVIT]

Please give us the update when you get it.

Thanks,

[3 SS's]

You know...... I was running my AC the other day for the 1st time and noticed some kinda whining/moaning noise as well... did your sound fluctuate under acceleration/de-acceleration??

[Kyle.Gilmour]

Originally Posted by 3 SS's

You know...... I was running my AC the other day for the 1st time and noticed some kinda whining/moaning noise as well... did your sound fluctuate under acceleration/de-acceleration??

Yes,
It absolutely fluctuates under acceleration/de-acceleration. But it also made it with the clutch in when revving around 2000RPM.

[RonC]

Originally Posted by Kyle.Gilmour

Yea, it is definitely louder than the car when inside.

They must have just been listening to it, because they gave it back to me after a couple hours so I doubt they went into the compressor at all.

I am sure this is a one off problem, havent heard of anyone else with a 5th gen having this issue

I also had a noisy A/C compressor on my 2010 L99 that was replaced 3 weeks ago. They got it in and it was 2 weeks or so before I took it in to get the work done. They said they were glad I came in because they had more than 50 calls from other dealers wanting that compressor as they were in short supply. The service mgr said he had 5 calls just the day before. It seems there is a problem of some sort.

I watched as they changed it and the instructions say to measure the oil drained out of the compressor and add that amount back to the system. NO oil would come out. New compressors come with 2.5 oz of oil and he added oil to bring back to specs.

Instructions say to cut the belt to remove it, but we didn't. List price of a new belt is $298 and they got one. It comes with a belt install tool that would not work so we reused the old belt. It still has a slight noise but not near as bad as the original. They listed the problem as insufficient oil in the compressor on the warranty form. I was happy with the way the dealer handled the problem.

[Kyle.Gilmour]

Wow...
thats interesting, I will make sure to tell the dealer about this.

thank you for your info

[2032Ceta]

Mine wines too, don't know if I will be bringing it in or not. A/C works great. If it gets worse, I'll probably bring it in...

[Kyle.Gilmour]

It was a 24hr turn around, not bad for having to cut pullys and take out parts.

mine was annoyingly loud,

[jayson71]

Mine goes in tomorrow for the same symptoms. I will keep everyone posted

[manchimp]

Took mine in because it was horrible. Whined like crazy! They replaced compressor and it did not help at all. I finally got a brand new car after insurance settled from my wreck and the new one is quiet! Never found out what was wrong with the other....