2002 Protege 5 Compressor ticking

Hi all,

I have an odd problem with my P5 that my mechanic can't seem to fix. On low idle (below 1000rpm) when the A/C compressor is running, it ticks like mad. As soon as I give it some gas and bring the RPMs up above 1000, it goes away. They have replaced the compressor twice, but the problem persists.

Anyone here ever experience this?

Thanks!

E.

Damn man I just replaced my ac compressor a couple of months ago and my car does the same exact thing. I hate it so much. I have no idea what it is, it sucks. Anyone have any ideas?? I read on the internet that the belt might just need a little tightening, but I don't think it's that, idk.

Belt or pulley

I've also encountered this issue of a loud ticking noise from the compressor. The noise has appeared so far on four out of the nine Mazda Protege's in service in our Maui car rental fleet, causing complaints from customers. Apparently, the vane type compressor used in these cars is susceptible to this kind of noise. An a/c tech sent me a TSB regarding this ticking noise. I am trying to upload it and post it here.







Once the noise starts, it progressively gets worse. At first it's intermittent, then over time it becomes constant and gets louder and louder. The procedure outlined in the TSB doesn't accomplish any noticeable improvement. Eventually it is necessary to replace the compressor. Even though the a/c still blows cold, the noise is just too loud for comfort, and disquieting to our rental car customers. We use re-built compressors, at about $150 a pop. One replacement re-built compressor was put in more than three years ago and is still running without any problem. The others are more recent and all running ok too.

A word of caution: not all re-built compressors are equal. One re-built compressor started making the ticking noise from the day it was installed. We replaced it with another re-built compressor from another source, and there was no more noise. If anyone is interested, message me and I will tell you which source of re-built compressors we rely on for best results.