Help please - I was driving my 2005 Mazda 3 today with my AC on and I started hearing a noise and smelling a hot smell coming from the engine. The noise sounded like something was loose and flapping around. I turned off my AC and the noise stopped and my car appeared "fine". My engine did not appear to get hot as the needle stayed mid-way between hot and cold.

I arrived back at work and turned off my car. My boss opened the hood of my car and asked me to turn on the car. With the AC in OFF position, the car turned on and idled - sounding fine. As soon as I turned the AC ON to level 1 or higher, the car stalled. This happened several times when I turned the car off and back on again.

Prior to today, I've noticed the green light on the AC button turn off without me turning it off myself. Not sure if that has anything to do with it.

Any thoughts on what's going on would be much appreciated! I called the Mazda dealer and spoke with someone in service who didn't right away know what was going on....

2005 Mazda 3, 96K miles

Thanks so much.

 

I'd guess the AC compressor siezed up - that would cause it to stall when the engine is loaded with a 'dead' accessory.
The green light should be completely seperate - though my 07 automatic system could easily be wired different from your 05 manual version.

With the engine off, you can reach the AC compressor and move it by hand (think you need a wrench on it though), if it doesn't move that'll be your problem. You can also look at that pulley when the engine is running and someone turns on the AC, if it turns or not will be the test.

 

a/c compressor is shot, be prepared to spend about $300+ for a new/reman one