Air Con Issue?

Am ticking off issues found with the inherited Jimny, now on the road. Last was wheel wobble and all sorted, thanks to here.

New issue. The air con was not working when i had it, so had it re-gassed last week. All the figures looked good from the re-gas report and the air con was/is working mighty fine. However, when having my tyres replaced, i noticed a big puddle of clear liquid underneath and the same when I got home, in the drive. Its a clear oily liquid, dripping down onto the floor(at pace). It stopped after about 5 minutes. I am assuming this is not normal?

I also noticed that the aircon is on all the time, regardless of if the switch is on and off. I have done some quick online research. Pressure on the gas may be too high, as seems it is easy to do if garage is not aware? If so, can I just leave it to reach the normal pressure, each time i drive it and it ejects the liquid, or do I need to take some action?

I think being stuck on may be down to a aircon clutch mechanism being stuck? Is this possibly related to high pressure and if/when the pressure becomes normal, it will begin working, or is a fix needed on the clutch mechanism.

I am a bit reluctant to drive it currently as I read the high pressure can cause some damage. Appreciate some advice as to what to do, in what order. Thanks again.

It's normal to find pools of water under the vehicle after the A/C has been used, moisture in the air condenses on the evaporator and drains out through a tube provided for this purpose.

The condensate should not be oily, but depending on where it runs after it exits the evaporator drain, it could pick up oil - dip your finger in it and see if it's an oily liquid or water with an oily film, if it's the latter I would consider it normal.

I'd say internal pressures are highly unlikely to cause the clutch to stay engaged, that's either going to be a problem with the clutch itself or an electrical issue, and I'd suggest taking the car back to whoever regassed it.

Take a look at the compressor pulley with the engine running, if the clutch is engaged, the very front of the pulley will usually be spinning with the pulley, switch off, find the electrical connector to the compressor and disconnect it, restart the engine and look at the pulley again - is the very front still spinning? It shouldn't be, if it is, the clutch itself is stuck.

It should be noted that on some cars, setting the A/C controls to "defrost" will turn the A/C on, even if the A/C switch is set to off - I don't know if the Jimny does this, so make sure the controls aren't pointing airflow to the screen.

Is this a gen 3?

Mine do not come on for defrosting. And high pressure is only a problem on modern cars where there is no clutch but a pressure valve that build (or not) pressure when needed instead of a clutch.
The clutch can be changed without swapping the complete compressor or regassing. If it can be found from a defunked compressor or second hand maybe.

On the Gen 3 the compressor is right at the top where you can see it.
With the ignition off the rim of the pulley with the belt on is free to rotate without the plate at the front, (the armature) which connects to the compressor shaft.
You should be able to turn that flat plate. (It won't be easy, but it will turn) If you can't turn it then the clutch is seized up.
(you could turn the engine, or even drop the belt off and turn the pulley rim, but turning the armature is easier)
If it will turn, then if you start the engine with the air con off you should see that the flat plate is stationary. If it isn't then the aircon is permanently switched on.
(You could also disconnect the wire to the coil behind the pulley- it comes out right at the belt end of the compressor.)

It may be wired permanently on as in a Gen 3 selecting low range cuts the aircon out, and you have to be a bit clever with the wiring to stop this.

Anyway, check if the magnetic clutch is working first.

There is a pressure switch that prevents the compressor clutch engaging if the pressure is too high or too low, so as long as the clutch is working then you can't have too much pressure.

Thanks again for all the good advice. I will be outside this morning taking a look.

Thanks facade. I have opened the bonnet and for the life of me I cannot see anything obvious that you describe to be looking out for, ie a belt and pulley(beyond the fan belt). I have googled and the limited available seems to have a different layout to mine. I have attached some pics of inside the engine bay, appreciate if you can point me in the right direction. I would take it straight to the garage, but it seems not many are familar with Suzuki Jimny's, so they will be on a learning curve too!