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