This is on my friend's car. 1997 e320 (W210) with 145,000 miles. He was driving along and heard what he calls "a loud noise" followed by what he thought appeared to be smoke coming from under the hood. He immediately pulled over and turned the car off. He waited a bit, then started the car again. The A/C was now blowing warm air (was cold before the incident). So he turned the A/C off and has been driving without A/C for several days.

He brought it by my house today after work. With the car idling, I turned the A/C on and a second later heard an abnormal grinding noise followed by a belt squeal, and then nothing (noise stops). About a second later, it starts again; grinding noise, belt squeal, stops. And the cycle continues. I only let this go on for about 5 to 10 seconds and shut it off.

He's going out of town in a couple days and leaving the car with me at which point I'll be better able to diagnose the problem. I plan on hooking up the gauges as well as turning the clutch and hub to get a better feel for what's going on. But I'm betting it will need a new compressor and dryer. Should I just go ahead and order one from FastLane?

Also, any inside tips or tricks I should know? For instance, I know some of the earlier compressors tend to leave "black death" spread throughout the system - will I need to remove all the hoses and parts in order to flush? What about metal shavings - will a compressor failure send those circulating through the system? Also, what type of oil and how much should I add to the compressor when replacing?

Finally, in the event that I'm too busy to do this for him (I'm still deciding), how much should a job like this cost him at a dealer or reputable indy?

Thanks in advance to all the helpful people on this board!

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08 W251 R350
97 W210 E320
91 W124 300E
86 W126 560SEL
85 W126 380SE Silver
85 W126 380SE Cranberry
79 W123 250
78 W123 280E
75 W114 280