A/C robbing serious power

Integgy95

New Member
I have noticed that my A/C system is robbing serious horsepower from my car when it's on and was curious as to if this is normal? I'm almost having to floor it when i take off just to keep the car from bogging out and shifting correctly. The clutch is about 20k miles old and it's aftermarket Stage 2 if that has anything to do with it.

Also, when I shift in the lower gears (1st to 2nd, 2nd to 3rd), when I engage the clutch, i hear a winding sound like the motor is winding down and its a very hollow sound if that makes any sense. Could my compressor have some issues, not enough freon in the system, or possibly the belt is too old or too tight? Give me your thoughts CI world.
 

DonJulio

Reppin' tha NW
Recheck tension on all your belts.

Stage2 is a bit ridiculous for the average joe on a stock engine.

I'm guessing your teg is an LS. Stage one is the max id go at 140 crank hp. (Clutch stages are determined by torque not that I care enough to remember it. 110ish?) though your symptoms are a wee bit dramatic.

Check your engines compression. A simple valve lash might do the trick, as well as a tune up.

When I valvelashed my LS, all my exhaust rockers were way out of spec. Oddly enough all the intake rockers were within specs so I left it alone.

Car ran like a monster after that.
 

Muckman

Not a M0derator
The compressor could be seizing up. Remove the belt and see if that makes it any better.
 

Silver2

DB7 Driver
Drive another similar car and compare. It does take some noticable hp to run the a/c on mine. Sometimes I'll turn it off when going up hills or merging in traffic. Good luck.
 


Integgy95

New Member
I figured a Stage2 clutch was ridiculous, but that's how the car came when i bought it sadly. it's nice for when i put some work into it once some of the problems it has are taken care of.

I'll check into an article for a valve lash job on it and get the compressor checked as well.
 

Integgy95

New Member
Thanks for the tips guys. I'll be checking the compressor shortly and will be doing a valve adjustment possibly this week being as I'll have some time on my hands.
 

uso_Dc

New Member
Its very normal for your car to feel like its getting robbed with the a/c on. That's why a lot of guys remove it. As for me, I like to ride in comfort. Now if I have a straight track car I may remove it but its nice on a hot day to be cruising down the freeway with my windows up and a/c full blast and see these kids with their wana be race rockets with the windows down swimming in their own sweat... hahaha. Anyways if you remove the belt definitely you will notice the difference, it comes down to the question if you REALLY need that little bit of torque so bad that you would need to sacrifice your comfort?

However on the other hand if your vehicle has been getting robbed more than the usual compressor drag, you may want to get it serviced there may be a blockage in the system or your compressor may be going bad....
 
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