Power lost while running air conditioner?

Question

So, I drive a 1995 Oldsmobile Eighty-Eight with 155,000 miles on its 3.8L V6 engine. The problem is that whenever I turn the AC on there is a noticeable loss of power. I was just wondering if this was normal for a car with so many miles on it? Or, is there something wrong with it? Its not really a big issue just an annoyance, and if it causes the car to lose some power that means I'm burning even more gas than normal to run AC while driving. (less power = more gas burnt to achieve same speed)

Any ideas what could be causing it?

Answer 1

most shade trees will say its the IAC, but i would suggest a good tune up

Answer 2

On any car the ac compressor uses some of the energy that engine produces, causing your car to burn more gas.

Usually on a v6 its not too noticeable, when you are driving, as the strain from the compressor isn't that much, but if your car is needing a tune up and barely running as it is, the extra strain might be noticeable.

Depending how long you've had the car, you might not realize that what you think is normal performance is really sub par due to the car needing a tune up.  Check your manual to see what kind of maintenance should have been done by now and get it done as you can afford to.

Answer 3

The engine is likley just getting weak and your noticing the drop in power when the compressor kicks on, but the power drop has always been there.