Jeep Grand Cherokee and Ram 1500 A/C Compressor (55111437AA): A-Premium 10PA15 with Clutch, $164.99

Arizona Invented Car Air Conditioning Twice

Long before factory A/C was standard equipment, desert drivers solved the problem themselves — with a swamp cooler bolted to the passenger window. The Thermador Car Cooler and its imitators were simple evaporative coolers: a metal cylinder packed with excelsior, a small water reservoir, and a scoop that forced 65-mph air through the wet pad and into the cabin. In dry Southwest heat they worked shockingly well, and for two decades a chrome cylinder hanging off the passenger door was as much a part of Route 66 as the neon.

Two things killed it: interstate speeds and humidity. Refrigerant-based A/C replaced it, and today a compressor failure in July in the Valley isn't an inconvenience, it's a safety issue. Which is why we keep compressors on the shelf.

The Part: A-Premium 10PA15 Compressor and Clutch

We have the A-Premium A/C compressor with clutch for Jeep Grand Cherokee, Commander, Ram 1500, Dakota and Mitsubishi Raider at $164.99. It's a complete compressor-and-clutch assembly, not a bare body, and it arrives pre-charged with lubricant. From the spec sheet:

• Compressor type: 10PA15
• Pulley: 6-groove multi-groove serpentine
• Lubricant: pre-filled with 170 ml of PAG46
• Refrigerant: R-134a
• Replaces OE numbers: 55111437AA, 55111437AC, 55111437AD, 55111436AB, RL111437AD and 158319
• Warranty: A-Premium one-year unlimited-mileage guarantee
• Weight: about 15.9 lbs

Fitment: 2008–2010 Jeep Grand Cherokee and Commander with the 3.7L or 4.7L, 2008–2012 Dodge Ram 1500 and Dakota with the 3.7L or 4.7L, and 2006–2009 Mitsubishi Raider. Cross-check the number stamped on your old compressor against that OE list before ordering — the 3.7/4.7 trucks and the 5.7 Hemi trucks do not always share a part.

Is It Actually the Compressor?

Compressors get blamed for a lot of things that aren't their fault. The failures that genuinely point at the compressor:

• The clutch won't engage. With the engine running and A/C on max, the center hub of the pulley should snap in and spin with the pulley. If the pulley spins and the hub sits still, you have either a failed clutch coil, a system that's too low on refrigerant to close the pressure switch, or an electrical fault — check pressure and the relay before condemning the part.
• Metallic grinding or a rising whine that changes when the clutch engages. That's internal wear, and it means metal is circulating.
• Locked rotor — the belt squeals, smokes, or shreds because the compressor seized.
• Poor cooling with normal pressures and a healthy blower, which can indicate low compressor output.

Cold air that's merely weak is more often a blend-door actuator, a blower motor, a plugged cabin filter, a clogged condenser or a slow leak. Diagnose with gauges before you buy a compressor.

Do the Job Once

The single most common reason a replacement compressor fails early is that it was installed into a dirty system. If the old compressor came apart internally, its debris is now in the condenser and the lines. Standard practice when replacing a compressor:

• Replace the receiver/drier or accumulator — it's a desiccant part and it's saturated the moment the system is opened.
• Replace the orifice tube or expansion valve.
• Flush the lines and condenser, or replace the condenser if the old compressor grenaded — parallel-flow condensers are nearly impossible to flush clean.
• Pull a deep vacuum and hold it to verify the system is dry and leak-free before charging.
• Charge by weight to the amount on the underhood label, not by gauge pressure alone. Overcharging a system in 110° ambient is a great way to cook a brand-new compressor.

If a condenser is part of your job, we have the A-Premium A/C condenser with receiver-drier for the 2012–2014 Ford Focus 2.0L at $58.95 on the shelf as well.

The Rest of the Climate System

Air conditioning is a chain, and the compressor is only one link. Also in stock right now:

• Mopar 55111886AB A/C heater climate control head for the 2007–2010 Chrysler Sebring and Dodge Avenger, $58.49 — when the buttons work but nothing happens, the control head is often the culprit.
• OCPTY blower motor and fan assembly for the 2006–2015 Mazda MX-5 Miata (700311), $72.49 — no airflow at any speed usually means the motor, not the refrigerant.
• Front A/C heater blower motor for the 2016–2022 Chevrolet Spark 1.4L (700360), $38.69.
• 7T4Z8C607A dual radiator cooling fan assembly for the 2007–2015 Ford Edge and Lincoln MKX, $116.99 — the fans pull air across the condenser as well as the radiator, so a dead fan shows up as "A/C only blows cold on the highway."

Timing

Phoenix-area A/C parts sell out from May through September and nobody in the Valley wants to be shopping for a compressor in August. If your clutch is already chattering, deal with it now.