My truck is an '02 Blazer with the 4.3 liter engine.

When I turn the A/C on, a loud tapping sound starts coming from the compressor. The clutch is cycling on and it has a full charge. I'm guessing that the compressor is starting to go bad. Has anyone had any similiar symptoms to confirm? The odd thing about this is that I still have ice cold A/C...but the problem just began today...

 

I would suspect the compressor is failing. When they fail, the have a bad habit of pushing chunks of compressor through the discharge line. Drive down to an AC shop and play stupid...Chances are the guy will come out and say..."Yep! she's gonna blow!" or "Aw heck! mines sounded like that for years!"

Hard to tell without hearing it. But i am willing to bet lunch it isnt good.

Sorry

 

Same thing happened to me. Thankfully they aren't as expensive as I remember, and $200 later plus some coolant and it was blowing cold and quiet. Mine sounded like a rod knocking, hard.

 

Thanks for the info. My compressor sounds just the way you described it, carlspeed.

I've kept the A/C off since I started hearing this noise (which was yesterday) and it hasn't completely gone bad since I still have cold air.

With that said, do you think I can get away with just replacing the compressor or do you think enough debris may have already contaminated the accumulator and orifice tube?

 

I replaced the accumulator and orifice tube. The tube was a whopping $1.90 something, and the accumulator was only $21. Advance auto parts gave 10% off the package if you bought the three. It was recommended by people on this forum to do a flush of the refrigerant after you have completed the install. I plan on doing one, but until I do, the air is blowing cold with just 2 smaller cans of refrigerant thrown into the low side port with a cheap tube.