AC is blowing my fuse! Options

[caszboy]

Hi all,

I just recently picked up a 1996 Toyota Celica ST 1.8L with 101,000 miles. I love this car! It looks very up to date on style for being a 12 year old car.

Just to let you know some background info on me: I'm not new to cars. I have done motor swaps, rebuilds and body work (all just for fun/necessity) but i have never fixed anything AC. So here is the problem...

I bought the car when it was to cold and couldn't check the AC (yeah, dumb on my part). Well, it is definitely hot enough now and it doesnt work! When i attempted to turn on the AC, it would not engage but the light does come on in the button. So i replaced the belt and assumed its low on freon. I checked the PSI and the gauge read 0 PSI. So I put just a slight burst (literally maybe a 2 second burst) of R-134a into the low pressure side and the PSI jumped to 55 PSI. So i let out enough to bring the PSI to 45 PSI. Now the AC turns on but never gets cold. After about 2-3 minutes of it trying to cool, the fuse blew. So i replaced the fuse and let it try again, same thing happens.

Any ideas? I'm thinking the compressor and/or compressor clutch is bad but would that make the fuse blow?

thanks in advance!

Casey

[GriffGirl]

This may sound lame, but could it have anything to do with it not being grounded properly? Or just the ground having corrosion? If it doesn't blow the fuse when you're driving, but it does when you're not, maybe it has something to do with running off the alternator power vs. the battery? I don't know about this kind of stuff but that's where I'd start looking.