Hi there... I have a 2006 S with 50k miles on it (6 speed) i've started to notice a moan/groan during acceleration (after 3000 rpms) it winds down with the engine when the clutch is pushed in and it ONLY does it if the AC is on... its not super loud but its definitely noticeable. Any ideas?

 

AC compressor.

Mine does it. My girlfriends car does it. My brothers car does it. Customer cars do it. All of which still have functioning AC.

If the AC quits working or you have belt problems with it it's not really worth spending the hundreds of dollars to replace it.

 

Yea the ac does that to a lot of vehicles, especially tiny little 1.6l four bangers. I usually turn it off when I leave a stop light.

 

sweet, thanks!

 

It's beyond obnoxious though. Mine also puts a pretty substantial drain on my system, my acceleration is garbage with the AC running. Is that also normal?

 

Totally normal.

The woes of driving a car with a small displacement engine. I've got a Built MKIV Jetta TDI that puts down over 330 ft lbs of torque and it gets doggy off a stop with the AC on.

 

nkfry. My MINI has a very low "whine" when the climate control/ac is on. No noticeable drop in power (it's a bloody R50, after all!!!!). Is that the compressor, or its clutch? Is it better to replace the whole thing, or maybe just the clutch, being the cheaper option.


Update: Decided to bite the bullet, and ordered a new compressor.

 

Disagree with the guys before me. It's important to listen to sounds your car makes, especially if it wasn't doing it before.

Could be the precursor to what happened to me last week, here in AZ.

If so, I definitely feel your pain, brother.

 

Mine does it

 

There used to be an option for the AC clutch available, but they have since dried up.

I've worked on cars with as little as 12k miles that do it, some worse than others, but mine has done it the entirety of me owning it and usually only when it is ridiculously hot outside.

 

its funny there was a post about this a few weeks ago sayin theirs sounds likea howling banshee.... mine does it too, still blowing cold

 

Any idea if replacing it with an aftermarket compressor will fix the noise/vibration? I find it irritating as hell...

 

I'm sure that if you could track down an aftermarket compressor that would fit, I'm sure it would probably get rid of the groaning.....but you are probably talking about over $1000+ just to have it swapped out. I'll just live with the groan

 

I'm glad to hear that you guys have lived with the groan with no loss of A/C. Mine has groaned for a year or two and I've tried to use it as sparingly as possible because I figured that meant the compressor was on it's way out.

My fuel mileage also goes down when I run my ac consistently. I know it's going to go down some, but I'm losing 2-3 mpg with A/C vs no A/C. My line of thinking was there was a bad bearing in the compressor which was whining and causing excess drag on the belt which would account for the noise and mileage, but maybe it's just normal?

 

Normal. A/C operation is just a demanding process energy consumption-wise.

 

Yep....it takes power to run the compressor, so its going to reduce your mileage.