AC Problem Noise/White smoke 500E 2014

[Zverkous]

Guys, I am having little problem with my 2014 Fiat 500e and was hoping that some of you have maybe idea how to fix it. Here is watts going on:

1. I have notice strange noise like grinding ( you feel this noise and hear it at driver feet)when I turn AC on while driving and when I am about stop you can feel it (you feel this noise and hear it at driver feet) while you break even more. As soon as I am stationed the grinding noise is gone. This all started about 6 months ago ( started to progress by the time ). AC was still blowing cold air at that time.

2. About 3 months ago I had added some refrigerant in system cause I have notice it was not getting cold as it was before and few days after that while car was stationed and AC on there was suddenly there big white smoke cloud coming from engine compartment and hissing noise. Same thing happened couple more times after this and then no more blowing cold air.

3. I decide to take to dealership to have them check out and after inspection they told me that they have to replace AC all of it and it will cost $8,900 ( its not typo)!!!! New AC compressor and system is about $4K

4. I had couple more times happened to have big cloud of white smoke after this.

If you have any input on this it would be really helpful! Thank you

[5port]

I can tell you the white smoke you see every once in a while is coming out of the compressor which is dying a slow death. The smoke consists of polyester oil and gas that is in the system and is being released under high pressure thus atomizing the oil. The grinding you are hearing is the compressor slowly eating itself and its shards are contaminating the whole system. The dealer is correct in their analysis but their labor rate is thru the roof thus the high quote. The compressor will eventually seize and then the damage after that will quickly increase. I suggest you stop using the AC until the whole system is replaced. There is no low cost way out of this.

[ElectricTireShredder]

...2014 Fiat 500e... I have notice strange noise like grinding ( you feel this noise and hear it at driver feet)when I turn AC on while driving and when I am about stop you can feel it (you feel this noise and hear it at driver feet) while you break even more. As soon as I am stationed the grinding noise is gone.

The grinding you are hearing might just be the brake pump's normal operation, since you say it happens when braking but not when stopped with A/C on. To me it's more of a "buzz" sound, but you can also feel its vibration which may be why it seems like "grinding" to some. Either way, it might help to do a quick test with the car in "ready" mode, in Park, with the A/C off: Pump the brake pedal until you hear a "buzz" or "grinding" sound. It happens after about 3 hard brake presses, or about 5 gentle ones. If this is the "grinding" you mentioned, then it's not coming from the A/C.

Even normal operation of the A/C compressor sounds "too loud" to some owners, since there's absolutely no motor sound to mask it, although the radiator fans cycle off & on pretty loud when A/C is activated.

...About 3 months ago I had added some refrigerant in system cause I have notice it was not getting cold as it was before and few days after that while car was stationed and AC on there was suddenly there big white smoke

Other owners have had problems due to accidentally using the wrong refrigerant. The correct type is shown on a sticker near the hood's latch (click to enlarge):
A-C Fluid Specs.jpg

...dealership ... told me that they have to replace AC all of it and it will cost $8,900

Dealerships don't rebuild compressors, but some A/C specialist shops do. Other 500e owners have had that done for I think under $1,000.