Time for a new Condenser?

**eeyan** · 06-14-2017

I like preventative maintenance, so maybe I'm just being too sensitive here.

When I turn the AC off, I can feel the engine sort of shake a little. It runs smoother with the AC on, which seems counter intuitive to me. Also, when I shut the engine off I can here a slight hissing noise coming from the condenser area, but it's been like that for months and I still have good AC so I'm not so sure it's a freon leak but I've been wrong before. Lastly, it seems to drip quite a bit out of the drain plug, but this is my first car with working AC so I dunno how much is normal.

Am I just paranoid?

**Fivefingerdeathpunch** · 06-14-2017

The compressor makes pressure so it's not uncommon to hear it making noise right as you the shut the thing off. If it was a leak, you'd lose AC all together so that doesn't sound like your issue.

Water dripping can vary some, depending how hard the system is working and the temps outside. Most cars make pretty decent puddles under the car when just sitting there.

**eeyan** · 06-14-2017

Isn't the compressor on the passenger side? The noise I hear sounds like a tire leaking on the driver side, hence why I thought it was a condenser issue. I haven't taken the time to see how long it takes but it'll hiss for at least a few minutes.

**Fivefingerdeathpunch** · 06-14-2017

I mean the system as a whole, you have lines running from passenger side to the drivers side that lead back to the firewall. Certain parts of the system are under different pressure's and you can hear it bleeding off.

Again if the AC works and cools like normal, nothing should be wrong. Replacing a condensor when it's not leaking or allowing the system to function normally won't help.