When the AC is turned on the car (1995 SC300) shuts down and has to be jumped. The alternator, battery, distributor cap and rotor have been replaced. What is causing this?

 

Moved to 1SC forum, where you should get much more detailed help. Welcome to CL!

 

I’ve had that happen with a bad or battery before. I know you mentioned that you had just put a new one in there recently.

The batteries I’ve been getting from Costco have done stuff like that and I had to exchange them.

 

this could be a classic symptom of a dirty and gunked up idle air control valve. When the A/C compressor is kicked on, there is more load that is put on the engine which will typically decrease your RPM. The IACV should bump your idle up to compensate for this.

I would remove and clean the IACV, search for any possible vacuum leaks.

Another possibility is your A/C compressor is seizing.

 

Thanks! I have changed the battery 3 times in the last month. The car has been in storage and I take it out every 6 months. The car is stored in Florida is a garage so it doesn't get driven much. The car has 108,000 miles.

 

Thank you! I'll look into your suggestions. The car is in storage six months of the year in Florida and is driven the other six months. Hopefully, this will help.

 

I checked the alterator output and it registered 14.2. Load tested the battery and it went down to 13.the battery is charging when running, but after a half hour of running the alternator is only putting out 13 volts and goes down from there. Any ideas?

 

Also, when disconnecting the battery while the car is running the car stays running.

 

13.6 volts is as low as the alternator should go assuming no major accessories turned on at once. Don't disconnect the battery when the engine is running this puts half wave AC into all the electronics, very bad.