2006 Liberty Sport with ~95k miles on it.

Very abruptly lost all cooling while sitting in traffic on the interstate yesterday. Took it to a local shop that checked pressure and all the lines, but they said that the compressor is not engaging. They only do very basic a/c service, so that's about as far as I've gotten. I've done some research online, but have gotten some conflicting information. So my question is generally "what do I need to know?"

My two biggest questions:
1. Assuming that the compressor needs replaced, the information I've been looking at seems to point towards this being at least a $500-$1,000 repair. Is this accurate?

2. I've read a lot about people bypassing the compressor with a shorter serpentine belt or putting in some sort of "dummy" pulley to keep tension without it, with the implication being that I'm going to burn through my belt pretty quickly without the ac compressor functioning. Is this a genuine risk? I've put about 30miles on it since the AC stopped working, should I not be driving it in the meantime?

To be perfectly honest, I'm seriously considering dumping the Jeep and borrowing my parents' spare car for the next few months until I have a bit more money to afford something new. Unfortunately, the a/c problem is not the first major thing I've had to repair in the last few years, and I don't think it'll be the last, I'm just not sure I can afford to keep putting money into fixing this thing right now.

Any insight is valuable.

it could be a blown fuse.
Or a bad relay.
could be one or both of the AC pressure switches.
Could be a bad compressor clutch.

Is it making a lot of noise? That would indicate a bad bearing on the AC pulley.

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U.S. Army Retired

First thing to check would be for a loss of refrigerant, It won't engage if the low psi switch is open.
Don't worry about the bypass thing if the clutch isn't pulling in - many cars on the road have a no a/c operation due to a leak in the system.

_________________
2004 sport 3.7
OME coil lift.
Clevis lift.
Mopar skids.
5-speed manual.
235 70 17 Firestone destination AT'S on stock rims.
Gen 4.5 a-arms

if the pulley on the AC pump turns freely on its bearing with AC disengaged (switched off), no need to do anything else.