After nearly freezing to death last winter, I found a broken blend-door and repaired it last weekend. Now that I have heat (and it's 94F out), it turns out that I never was getting a/c. Thought it was a low charge so I bought a can of R134 (with gauge). Gauge showed 45psi on the lowside which means it's pretty well charged. Checked the clutch operation and it was not engaging. This component is pain to get to, so before bust-A getting at the compressor: 1. Is there a better test to determine exactly what is wrong? 2. Is the clutch a common point of failure, or could the actual compressor be at fault (80,000 miles)? 3. Are there any online repair manuals for this component? Thanks in adcance for any help, -lu

The rear seal on my 97 chevy V-6 manual trans leaked and I replaced the seal and fluid but after that the gears whinned but everything seemed to work ok. After about two weeks it would take spells where it would not go in gear until you played with it for a while, once you did get into any gear it would be alright for a while then do it again. I checked the clutch fluid and it's full and the trans is full. Can someone tell me what I'm up against as far as repairs are concerned. It's a 97 chevy 1500 V-6, 4.3 lit, with a 5 speed trans.