On the way home last night, I hear clunkity, clunkity, clunk that drove me nuts. When I got home, I popped the hood. It appeared to be one of the many pulley operated components up front. So I turned everything off and left the engine running and the noise dissappeared. I turned on the air conditioning and the sound returned. It sounded like the compressor was full of marbles! For fear that this thing will disintegrate into a 1,000 pieces and cause further damage to something else, I am not going to use use it till I fix it.

Is this something that the average Joe (or Andy in my case) can do in the front driveway, or is this way over my head? And what exactly does "With clutch" and "Without Clutch" mean when you go to order a new compressor?

BTW, this is an '89 IROC w\ L03 engine.

Down here in GA, it is still quite hot, so any input is appreciated.

Thanks,
Andy

 

Sounds like one of the bearings in your A/C compressor is shot. I would replace the compressor before it decides to lock up and throw your belt off.

If you look at your A/C compressor, the pulley looking thing in front of the compressor casing that the belt turns is the clutch. When your engine is idling, if you watch that clutch while someone inside the car turns on and off the A/C you can see what it does. With the A/C off, only the outer part spins, which has very little drag on the engine. With the A/C on, the clutch engages, which actually turns the inner part and the compressor, which has alot of drag.

With clutch means the replacement compressor has a new clutch on it, so all you really have to to is just bolt it in and re-chrge the A/C system.

Without clutch is going to be a little cheaper, but it is only the compressor itself, without the clutch. You must remove your old clutch and put it on the new compressor, which requires special tools you can rent from autozone. Its a PITA though, I would recommend just getting the one with clutch.

Either way you will have to re-charge your A/C system, because when you unbolt the lines from the back of the compressor, it will leak out all the pressure. Heres a tip, though, when you are unbolting the lines, have a towel ready to cover the whole compressor with, becuase it will shoot freon and oil everywhere. Also, while its spewing refrigerant, stand back and let it fully discharge, you dont want to breathe in R12. Don't smoke while you're doing this either, because R12 is flammable, and the fumes from burning R12 are VERY harmful.

 

Awsome info! After I let the R12 out, can I refill with R134?

 

Someone here in my office told me that I have to replace the dryer as well. When I do so, I need to use a vacuum when it is installed. Sounds like it is getting a little complicated. Can anyone tell how easy it would be just to replace the pulley, clutch, and bearings instead?

 

You can replace them all by replacing the A/C compressor and get the one with clutch. I am not sure of all the details of switching to R134, I am still using R12.

 

Just to add, the freon will also freeze your skin upon contact. Autozone loans out a hand pump I believe so you can evacuate the air from your lines before filling up with 134a. It is technically illegal to release r12 into the atmosphere. The right way to do it is take it to a shop that'll evacuate it.

 

Hehe oops, wait, no, I didn't empty my A/C system myself. Geez, one of these days the EPA is going to be knocking on my door... I have lost count of how many chemicals have gone down my driveway...

 

Thanks for the info. I think it might just be the compressor clutch that is having the issue though. Does anyone know how easy it is just to replace the clutch? Do I have to empty the compressor to replace the clutch? Any input would be appreciated.

Thanks,
Andy

 

In the mean time you might want to disconnect the electrical connection from the a/c clutch because i believe it'll cycle on and off by itself.......

 

do yourself a favor and avoid all those rebuilt or remanufactured compressors. they are trash. buy a new compressor. i myself am going to buy a new delco one.

 

Thanks guys, but I really think I just need to replace the compressor clutch. Can anyone explain how to just replace the clutch?

 

Andy,

You've had lots of good advice so far - well, except for the part about venting your old refrigerant charge. Try to avoid doing that.

Before you get in up to your ankles, you might want to take a close look at the accessory belt and tensioner. A glazed/failing belt can produce such a noise under heavy loads (as from the air conditioning compressor). A tensioner that is losing spring force can also allow slippage, and will produce that noise. The tensioner can be observed while the engine is running. If the tesioner is "dancing" around instead of remaining steady, you may have a belt/tensioner issue.

Another think to investigate is the clutch itself. Any contaminants and oil that may have found their way into the clutch can causse similar slippage, and produce a similar noise. It is relatively east to replace the belt and to clean the AC clutch before you go pick up that new compressor. You can flush out the majority of contaminants with a well-directed garden hose of car wash high pressure sprayer. Finish teh task with electromotive cleaner that is safe for alternators and other electrrical parts. A stream of the cleaner sprayed into the deenergized clutch can clean away a lot of oil and contaminants. Once the belt is satisfactory and the cluutch is cleaned, start teh engine and AC compressor again to check for the noise. If the sound is still present, you may want to verify the bearing diagnosis with a stethoscope.

If the compressor does need to be replaced, consider using something other than R-134A as a rep[lacement refrigerant. The latent heat capacity of R-134A is poor compared to R-12 or some other replacements. You will be disappointed with the performancee of that refrigerant in your car's system. Check into R-414B instead, or have your R-12 reclaimed, recycled, and re-used in your system (after filtering, of course - part of the recycling process).

 

Thanks for all the info. It helps beleive me. From what I am seeing, just replacing the CLUTCH itself is not a good option. I appreciate all the input.

Andy

 

:sillylol: