Bad AC Compressor ?

[danny04GT]

I can see that the pully for my A/C is spinning slower than the belt. This is causing my A/C to not work. It seems to do this intermittantly and after I have been driving for a long time. The slipping is causing the belt to burn and smoke while the car is running. Even when the A/C is off I can hear a chccck, chccck, chccck noise (thats the best i can describe it) as the car is idling.

I assume there is some type of bearing that is frozen in the compressor. Should I replace the entire A/C compressor with the clutch? Or would there be another part that could be services without changing the entire compressor/clutch ?

 

[danny04GT]

Anyone ? Anyone think the problem this would just be the AC clutch and not the compressor? I dont want to spend any cash I dont have to.

 

[jstreet0204]

It is more than likely just the clutch, take it off and see how freely just the compressor spins. Hopefully it isn't the compressor. The clutch assembly can be bought for around $50 at autozone. I replaced mine with one form autozone over three years ago with no problems so far.

 

[COramprat]

I agree with the clutch. Not to hard to replace but I paid about 150 for mine.

Here is a write-up I did on the replacement.

http://forums.stangnet.com/showthread.php?t=614300&highlight=clutch

 

[danny04GT]

Thanks Guys! I appreciate the help. It looks like autozone has just the AC clutch for $135, they have a rebouild compressor with the clutch in stock for $159 though. should I buy the whole thing? Or will it end up costing alot more cause I will have to refill the freon?

 

[jstreet0204]

I would check to see how much it will cost to have it refilled. You can fill it yourself if you have manifold guages and a vacuum pump, but most people don't have access to those.

 

[AmBo]

My AC has been broken for a month now. I just man up and deal with it.

 

[danny04GT]

Man up?? Im in Phoenix, it wont be under 100 during the day for about 3 months. It hit 113 last week. I doubt you have the same issue in Jersey. Besides, the whole thing with pully not spinning while the belt is, might be a problem...

 

[COramprat]

Thanks Guys! I appreciate the help. It looks like autozone has just the AC clutch for $135, they have a rebouild compressor with the clutch in stock for $159 though. should I buy the whole thing? Or will it end up costing alot more cause I will have to refill the freon?

I can't really say how much more work it would be to swap the whole thing. I'd rather not have to fool with draning the system and flushing it to put the new compressor on.

 

[danny04GT]

I think i'll go with the suggestion from JSTREET0204 and see if the compressor spins with the clutch removed. If it wont spin i'll buy the compressor too.