Air conditioning compressor pulley loose

[tez]

Hi everyone,

While I was changing the engine belt on my car today, I wiggled the pulley on the air conditioning compressor and it was loose. Would a damaged magnetic clutch cause this, or would it be something else?

The air conditioning works fine and there is a slight noise (due to the loose pulley) when the engine is running.

[djb2]

A loose A/C pulley suggests a bad clutch bearing. This can allow enough movement to damage the magnetic coil.

It's possible to change the bearing without discharging the system and removing the compressor from the car, but there is very little room to work.

[Kep]

The assembly is held on with two snap rings (e clips). I had a clip break and only one half remained holding it together. However, I didn't check to see if it wiggled or not.

Kep

[tez]

So does removing the compressor off the block require the lines to be taken off? Or can I unbolt the compressor to see if I can fix the bearing? Is it simple to take the compressor apart?

[Kep]

You can unbolt the compressor and remove and reinstall the magnetic clutch and bearing without removing the lines. It is pretty tight but I did it. I had to unbolt the compressor, remove the fasteners for the pulley, re-bolt the compressor, tap off the pulley and then unbolt the compressor again to access the electric magnet. Getting the compressor to stay where I wanted it was the biggest problem. I tried pieces of wood and such but nothing ever worked well.

Kep

[tez]

To remove the pulley, what tool did you use to hold the pulley? Is the rest of the compressor easy to take apart?

Ive had a look in the workshop manual and to remove the magnetic clutch and bearing, its some snap rings?

[Kep]

I believe that you are refering to what I call the clutch plate and you need to hold the pulley still while you unscrew it. I used a pair of vice grips to gently hold onto the rubber lip. You don't need to put a lot of pressure on the vgrips. It didn't seem to damage anything.

Kep