Air Conditioning

[sleep_deprived129]

I just replaced the a/c clutch on my '88 4-cyl camry. Today I took the front hub(?) off to adjust shims as it was rubbing on the pulley a bit when it wasn't engaged. Once I got it off I found that there seemed to be an oily residue on the pulley. Is this normal? When the clutch went out on it I found that it was likely due to a bad bearing on the pulley. Could the oily resiue point to a blown seal due to the heat from this bad bearing?

[sleep_deprived129]

Turns out my compressor seems to be bad, the new bearing is already startin to go and the friction surface on the pulley has a bit of discoloration which appears to be from heat, new compressor and a 134a retrofit...yay.....

[sleep_deprived129]

I did just have a thought, could it be that my 'new' clutch is cheap and leaking oil? Also, if this is not the case and I need to replace the compressor, how challenging is this to do myself? Any tips for doing this job? Any help is greatly appreciated.

[Doctor J]

Nort sure if this is your problem, but the Camry compressors are using a rubber "bushing" between the outer part of the pressure plate and its hub (attached to the compressor shaft). When that rubber (that suppose to act as a spring and a damper) ages, it gives variety of problems such as run out (intermittent drag like on my car, which can be fixed by cycling the switch on and off) Leaking oil will cause the a/c clutch to screech and smoke at engagement; dragging clutch can be due to run out of the pressure plate ( bad rubber) or incorrectly set clearance between the bearing and plate. I saw the quiet clutches on badly leaking compressors so these can be unrelated things.