Hey folks, long time lurker here but haven’t needed to post because I’ve been able to find the answers from previous threads. This one is a bit different from the rest given the timeline of events so here goes!

Left home and noticed the battery light was on, so returned back to find smoke coming from the alternator. I took off the serpentine belt and drove the car into my garage to work on it. Replaced the alternator and found a leak in the radiator so a new one of those went in as well. Car works great now but the AC isn’t working. I’m wondering if it has to do with the belt being off the compressor when the car ran.

I recall the first day of summer when I ran my AC it took an hour for it to actually kick on but it’s been working for months without issues until this last event. Is there a reset or something for the car to try the compressor again or am I barking up the wrong tree?

 

The connector for the field coil on the A/C compressor is right under the alternator and there is another one that connects to the body harness that is attached to the passengers side radiator fan (both two wire connectors). Make sure both of those are plugged in first, since you had the radiator & alternator out it could have gotten unplugged or damaged. I don't have any good pictures of that since its a hard location to get into.

Then if that checks out, then there is always the usual checks/issues, A/C relay good, field coil ohm's in spec, A/C clutch gap within spec, refrigerant levels good, etc...But if it worked prior to the alternator change, I am leaning more towards something being unplugged.

 

You were exactly right! I left the compressor unplugged. Ice cold AC once again, thank you!

 

Glad to hear that, makes for an easy fix! Hopefully you weren't sweating too long from lack of A/C.