Air Conditioner making a Horrible Noise Please Help

[Glenda B]

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Ok, here is the deal, my air conditioner is making a horrible noise, you can have it on , it is fine, then it will start making this crying groaning sound. Like a loud whimpering noise, ( sorry do not know what else to call it ) , now sometimes it just does that, nothing else but, then at times after it does the whole crying thing it gets lound , super loud, like this horrible grinding noise, I can actually feel it under my feet it feels like it vibrates the whole car. Today at a stop light it was so bad I thought the whole thing was going to fall out under my car...I turned it off...this was in town, when I headed for home driving on the freeway it did not do anything ...it never does driving out for long period but, when you stop , the ac changes and then that starts..Any ideas would be greatly appreciated...
Thanks

[JDW]

One of the Bugs I manage here at work, a 2005, developed a vibration/groaning/whining/variable "soundtrack" any time the AC was on. Initially, the "Gronking" would occur for 10 or so minutes, then it would quiet down...immediately followed by the air ceasing to be cold. Turning the AC off and back on would get it going again for a while.

What I have learned working with our repair shop: in my case, the condenser fan had been improperly re-installed after a front end accident repair, instead of being bolted to the frame, some "smart person" used very thin wire ties, which eventually broke. The fan then flopped down on a cooling hose, jamming the blade and burning out the ($300!!!) fan motor. The Gronk was stopping due to AC overheating, which shut off the compressor. Once fixed, the Gronking remains, but the AC no longer quits cooling.

However, the solution to the Gronk is still pending. This car has had multiple replacements of Expansion Valves, Compressors, and Condensers. All the lines and parts have been checked for restricted flow and came out fine. The compressor has a "secondary" pressure regulator and it is believe to be the source of the Gronking. One of the mechanics at our shop has a Jetta that has been Gronking for quite a while, suggesting that despite the fatal sounds, it doesn't appear to be impending failure. It's just seriously annoying!

Anyone else experience this fun?

J

[D2Beetle]

Just my .02, is it possible that the compressor is icing up internally?

[jixer750]

My ol' ladys 99 new beetle is having similar problems. I'm disappointed no one has posted any solid fix to this problem. I've searched & know others have had this problem (even on different makes & models) but no concrete "hey this is what I did & it fixed it". A little history on "Francis", his a/c would blow cold for a minute then go warm. The compressor stayed engaged the whole time & made no unusual noises. I took it to a local shop & they replaced the expasion valve & the a/c started blowing cold again. The tech did let me know that there is now an intermittent vibration & he has never seen that before. He showed me what he was talking about while the a/c was on. I thought, ok i'll just keep an eye on it as long as it's blowing cold. driving the car when this vibration happens is unnerving. The groaning is loud & vibrations are felt through the floor & pedals. I'm currently debating my next course of action. Through my research a few things in my situation seem viable. They didn't get the pressure right charging my system, low oil in compressor, compressor is about to quit. My condensor fan is fine, no damage & spins with no change when vibration appears. I will post the "fix" when it happens.