Yes, a hydrolocked compressor will not turn.

When the a/c system has the right amount of refrigerant in it, the compressor has a gas coming into it, and mostly coming out of it. It's getting squished into a liquid form as it goes into the condenser, roughly.

If you get too much refrigerant in the system you start getting conversion from gas to liquid earlier. All the way back into the compressor itself.

And if you get way too much refrigerant in the system, you get liquid traveling throughout the whole system. Which can have you sucking liquid into the compressor. And compressors don't do well trying to squish liquids. They lock up. It's a transient locking. As the liquid squirts around the piston(s) the compressor will slowly continue to rotate. Many times it will also blow the seals out of the compressor.

This hydrolocking is the danger/bane of turning the recharge can upside down when adding refrigerant. True, it's a quicker charge. But you're sucking a liquid down into the compressor. Usually you get away with it. Sometimes you don't.


'97 T-100 SR5
'86 Toyota's, the variety pack (all gone)