Can't be driven while it's seized. It would ruin the belt and the water pump, alternator, etc would not run.

It's possible the compressor got the black death. Evacuate the system and check the expansion valve.

 

Can't be driven while it's seized. It would ruin the belt and the water pump, alternator, etc would not run.

Thanks, Corolla Charlie. I thought the whole driveability thing would not be an issue, but clearly not. These engines run everything off the same belt, right?

How big of a job is evacuating the system, and is that something only a shop could do?

 

Yes.

If you tell them what happened, they'd be reluctant to do it in fear of ruining their system. I'd find a dedicated A/C shop.

 

I think it is a scam. There are too many red flags. ( filter on photos, the price, the wording of the ad)

 

@corolla Charlie: So if I took a chance and bought the car, I would be looking at an additional $700-$1000 of work that would have to be done, right?
@obso1337 That's what I thought. It sounded good, but at the same time, it didn't seem quite right.

 

Uhhhhhhh. WELL if it DID shoot it's internals into the system, then yes. You need a new evaporator core, high and low pressure line, clean out the HVAC unit, new compressor, condenser, expansion valve, clean the drain, while it's out replace the heater core, etc. But you can do all that on your own.

Like I said: take it to a trusted AC shop first to have it diagnosed. Remember, it is against federal law to release freon into the atmosphere, so that part of the job, unless you want to rent a vacuum pump, will need to be don't by a professional.

First things first. Take a look at the car and report back with your findings. We can go from there.

 

Even if it does end up costing you +1000 extra, $1500 is a GREAT deal.

Congratulations on your purchase

 

Sorry it has taken me so long to reply... I have been quite busy. I appreciate the help.
So, just for clarification, when I go to check it out (not before this coming tuesday), is there anything besides the AC system that I should check out and/or look out for (eg. on the 8th gen, the rust spots on the bottom of the doors, on the rear qtr panels, sooty tail pipe, etc.)?

 

thats a steal and a half... for $1500 scoop it up all day!! ive got an 05 xrs and love it.. when you test drive it, get it above 6600 RPM's and youll see what the difference is.. might be hard to do with a siezed pully tho.... lol..... remember they only made about 5000 05's and 5000 06's so they are a fairly rare vehicle.

If its a scam i wonder if its my car... lol... it was posted in 10 different cities across the us on CL for like $2K ish.. was hillarious.. i baught it from the real owner on here.. (black with black TRD Rims) and black vinyl over the tops of the HID headlights.

 

Toyota only made 6,600 Corolla XRS in its 2 years of production.

 

Ad was taken down.

There should be a way to bypass the AC compressor with a different belt - maybe.

That said, until you do that, you can't run the engine so it is hard to know what else could be broken on it ...

 

Yeah, usually you can get a "non A/C" belt to allow the car to run even with a seized A/C pulley. People do that all the time if they can't fix the A/C.

 

They have A/C delete belts BUT an oil pump takes its place for a dry sump system. Check monkey wrench racing

 

Nuts! The ad was taken down, as TigerHeli pointed out. I never got around to contacting the seller, between school, work, fixing my car, etc. Thanks to all who chimed in with helpful advice, tips, etc. I was thinking about getting a "non-AC belt" for the car if I had ended up buying it. BTW, Rock Auto carries three belts that specifically call out XRS, w/o AC.

 

It might not be that simple though ...

Sometimes there is an idler pulley in place of the compressor that you have to buy and mount (but then there wouldn't be a different belt.

Water under the bridge, but if another opportunity emerges, you need to see the belt routing for both versions (AutoZone members section sometimes has these) and then see if there is anything on the non-AC car that would have to be added to the AC car.