A/C compressor clutch

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ShipFixer
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A/C compressor clutch

Postby ShipFixer » Wed Apr 06, 2011 1:53 pm

Has anyone tried replacing their compressor clutch/pulley without removing the compressor itself? It looks like there's enough room to do it if I take out the fan shroud, wheel well liner and a couple other things.

Now that warm weather is here and the A/C is kicking in, it reminded me that I need to do something about that warbling bearing noise...


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volvite
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Postby volvite » Wed Apr 06, 2011 6:51 pm

I know you haven't posted this for very long, but looks like you get to be the test to see if it can be done. Good luck.

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Tech
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Postby Tech » Wed Apr 06, 2011 10:30 pm

you can do it....it's a tremendous pain in the butt.

Some pulleys have a shallow allen or torx bolt....all have loctite....the belt wont hold the pulley, so you'll either need the special tool to hold it, or block it with a bar or something. The shims are also select thickness. DO NOT lose them. Are you sure the PULLEY is the source of your noise? The is a cleaning procedure...more of less take a can of electrical cleaner to the clutch for 30 seconds.

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ShipFixer
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Postby ShipFixer » Thu Apr 07, 2011 6:23 am

I think it's the clutch. The warbling noise (high pitch spinning noise inside the engine bay, annoying warble inside the truck) switches on and off with the compressor. I was unaware that you could clean it and didn't see that in the service manual, is there something you can point me too? By electrical cleaner do you mean contact cleaner? (Will the can of MAF cleaner I just picked up from Autozone work?)

I was going for clutch replacement as kind of a "whatever it is short of a bad compressor, this will fix it" approach.

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Tech
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Postby Tech » Thu Apr 07, 2011 7:44 am

Yeah, there's a service procedure sent to dealers which is more or less, spraying brake cleaner/maf cleaner/electrical contact cleaner for i think 10 seconds the first time (car off). cycle a couple times after drying out, then 20-30s spray. Also make sure the charge and compressor oil is where it should be. If you had a recharge done in past, and oil wan't added/checked you could be low. I think a compressor is about a grand.

FYI - check belt and tensioner too. I've had tensioners go bad and the minor flapping belt made a weird droning noise. Maybe the extra load of compressor could contribute?

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ShipFixer
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Postby ShipFixer » Thu Apr 07, 2011 7:58 am

Is the droning noise kind of mid to high pitched? I did have several recharges by Nissan when I had my radiator issue (a/c was switching on and off, culprit was a plugged radiator but they chased a/c problems for a week first) but it was making this noise before that. They did a full drain and refill as part of that to fix a minor leak at the condenser while the radiator was out too.

I have a new belt and could get a tensioner from Nissan locally. I'll give that a shot first.

For the spraying part, where do you spray it in...between the pulley and the cover on the end where the special tool would go?

Part of my problem is just being on the road between now and transferring overseas in June, I don't have as regular access to a garage to take things apart. Even leaving it at Nissan is kind of problematic since I'm living out of it...hoping to do as much as possible in one shot, belt, MAF and this stupid compressor noise...

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Postby ShipFixer » Thu Apr 07, 2011 8:02 am

Oh, the tensioner does move a bit when the compressor switches on and vibrates more...is that normal on these? Belt remains tight and I have no belt squeal or anything other people have changed tensioners for.

Hard to tell with the auto stethoscope but it sounds like the noise is located closer to the compressor itself, hence my poking at the clutch.

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Tech
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Postby Tech » Thu Apr 07, 2011 8:15 am

tough to say without being there. The tensioner should move just a bit when the load comes on. Look an the runs of belt between pulley's, excessive "flapping" causes a noise. if you can safely do it, you might be able to play with the tension on the tensioner using the 3/8 drive on the tensioner and a breaker bar.....see if that changes the noise.

as for the spray, it's supposed to go between the magnetic clutch parts. Just behind the parts that spin when you engage the a/c.

FYI - if your shop uses an ACR5 machine - there is no provision for adding oil. If you had a couple recharges, could be low. Might be worth while to go to an a/c shop that can evac/chg/add oil - should be about 40min actual time.

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eieio
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Postby eieio » Thu Apr 07, 2011 9:24 am

sometimes a "spritz" of water at the suspect area will make a temporary difference in the noise
this might be an aid to find specifically where the noise is coming from

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ShipFixer
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Postby ShipFixer » Thu Apr 07, 2011 4:48 pm

Just tried spraying the clutch with MAF cleaner. Not entirely sure but it may have been temporarily better. (It may also have been the spray hitting the belt...but I'm replacing that this weekend anyway.)

Got the engine hot while finally fixing my dash rattle, so I didn't want to try spraying again. Will definitely give it another try though...this is way easier than a clutch change out! Thanks!

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Tech
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Postby Tech » Thu Apr 07, 2011 8:34 pm

:wink:
anytime! Glad it worked out!

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ShipFixer
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Postby ShipFixer » Sun Apr 10, 2011 4:47 pm

Well, the noise is still there after a new belt and more spraying. Hard to tell if its better or not since its a subtle noise inside the cabin anyway. However I did discover that the tensioner pulley has a lot of play in it (not obvious when its tight against the belt of course) so I'll be replacing that soon.

That may be the source of the warbling noise, but it still sounds like its in or near the compressor with the scope. And the high pitched noise is still in the compressor when the clutch is engaged. Gonna fix these things with one thing or another though!

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disallow
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Postby disallow » Thu Feb 23, 2012 6:42 am

I don't get it. Are you asking a question?

tireboy

Postby tireboy » Thu Feb 23, 2012 4:38 pm

yeahhh.. can you suggest sir what to do?

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eieio
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Postby eieio » Thu Feb 23, 2012 7:12 pm

tireboy wrote:yeahhh.. can you suggest sir what to do?
about what?


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