Had the AC in my 300SD go south a while ago after only 40K miles on new compressor. What's the scoop? Design failure and is this typical?

It's likely that a failure somewhere else caused the failure of the compressor. They usually last more than 40k when repaired by a competent professional.

What was the procedure used when the compressor was changed out? If the old compressor failed and dumped metal particles into the system and it was not disassembled and flushed out properly then this is to be expected.

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Jim