Bruce... you have a magic tool to fix this yet!?

Air blows as cold (cool) as it ever has so any damage was done before this round of fun.

I don't know how I'd fill it too fast though...

My theory here is either the reed valve or the head gasket. I'm searching for a place other than Australia that would sell me a kit!

 

Compressor head gasket, for those who are like, WHAT!?

 

yeah sounds like he dumped liquid onto the compressor. did refrigeration for a while and you fried it. if the compressor comes down on liquid its shot.

and your pressures are showing a restriction. check your pipes and all the fitting and if thats all up too standard then change the compressor.

 

A restriction, or a lack of pumping ability? I was thinking bad compressor but it was already mentioned so I didn't want to double up with my guess

 

if the compressor is shot it wont pump and it will show similar pressure to what hes got there.

 

What he said.

Apparently the amount of oil is critical. I had similar results (non p-car) and removed the compressor to find out it had about double the amount of oil it should. After draining completely, refilling with specified amount, and recharging, it was ice cold.

If you weren't starting with a new/rebuilt (previously uninstalled) compressor, there was probably no reason to put oil in it.

My .02 which usually isn't worth half that much.

 

Even with a new receiver/dryer?

 

The plot thickens!

Compressor removed... now that was fun...

Saw traces of dessicant in the high side...

 

Interesting update... when I removed the compressor I saw about 5-6 small dessicant pieces on the low side line fitting. I decided to drain the oil from the compressor and take the head off it to see how bad the reed valves and gasket was chewed up from debris... nothing at all wrong with it... so once again, a a new twist. I'd say at this point in time, the expansion valve is questionable due to possible clogging.

 

If the expansion valve is plugged you should see very high pressures on the high side and very low on the low side. Your pressures are closer to being balanced. I'd check it just to be safe, but don't expect it to be the issue.

Sounds like the dessicant did something nasty to the compressor, pretty rare you see the receiver/dryer fail in this manner.

 

After pondering, I agree re: the expansion valve.

Re: the compressor, I will post pictures tonight. The internals seem to be in good working order with no obstructions or signs of fouling.

 

This summer I had a shop replace my frozen compressor. Replaced it with oem/rebuild, results were the same as yours. They finally decided it was a faulty compressor, replaced it again and all is well.

 

Thanks for the post, Rip It... that's good to know.

I am going to put the head back on the compressor tonight and spin it with an air gun and see what kind of actual compression we get from it!

I've consulted with some folks locally and they are seem to think it's the compressor as well...

 

Oh yeah, definitely the compressor. Did some testing on it and 4 of 6 pistons are loose in their respective cylinders, along with, one of the pistons itself being able to spin.

Signs of moisture damage on the piston head as well...

 

Crikey, sounds like it got really screwed up. Can you tell if the dessicant really did all that damage? (I would imagine it is pretty abrasive stuff, and in small quantities is is probably also quite strong)
If it pulverized any of the dessicant then you will probably end up opening the system at the expansion valve to make sure it is clean and flushing all of the lines / condenser just to make sure this doesn't happen again.