I have never worked with the A/C system on a car before, not even a recharge, so I just want to be completely clear on the diagnosis before spending some $$ on a fix.

I noticed since I first picked the car up a few months ago the A/C wouldn't blow very cold. It worked, but I noticed how it was kind of weak. I was meaning to have it recharged but never got around to it.

A week ago when trying to turn on my A/C the light started blinking and no cold air comes out. Since then it hasn't worked.

Searched, looks like it's probably the compressor....

Tonight I had a friend switch the AC on and off while the car was running so I could observe what exactly was going on. This is what happens: when the AC is first kicked on, the light stays on but starts blinking after a few seconds. Observing under the hood, when the AC is first kicked on, the wheel that's attached to the compressor that's driven by the serp. belt (don't know the name of the wheel) budges a little bit but won't spin. It's dark out, and I could see sparks coming from the inner area of the wheel as it tried to move. After a few seconds it stops trying to spin and the AC light blinks.

So from observing what's going on under the hood, it looks like the compressor is seized. Does that sound right? Or is it the clutch not engaging and that's what's causing the sparks? Sorry I'm a total noob to the AC system so any info would be greatly appreciated.

 

You pretty much hit the nail on the head. When it begins to move it causes the AC system to think its operating, but thats why it blinks, it moves stops, moves stops, hence the blinking. But you have exactly what i experienced. Your clutch is siezed and you need to replace your compressor. What i did was find one on ebay, it was refurbished, and bought that for around 250 shipped to my house. Luckily my dad had worked with the systems before and had the equipment to recharge the system after we had taken it completely apart and put it back together with the new one. I also had a leaky needle in either the high or low valve and that caused me to loose the freon before. We fixed that and the compressor and walla the system works fine. We did this repair almost a year ago and the car is running great.

 

Engine related, moved.