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As a follow up, I learned that the brass nut is the compressor’s pressure relief valve. I suspect that the compressor may have been getting hot since I’ve been doing a lot of work to the car (new aluminum radiator, changing SC pulleys, logging fuel pressure, etc.) and that idling the engine in my garage while it’s about 1,000 degrees outside (Phoenix summer, lots of 110+ days lately) and the condenser not having any airflow might have caused or accelerated the problem. I’ll check the Freon charge and oil level, the latter using one of those plastic encased cotton filters that probes the low pressure side, and adjust as necessary. From now on, when I’m tweaking things on the engine, I’ll turn the ac off to help preserve the compressor. I might need a new one anyway, but want to evaluate the system beforehand.
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