Yesterday, i was pullin out the gate from work to show one of my buddies the new paintjob, and when i turned the ac on, i noticed a grinding sound. anyways it turns out its the ac clutch on the compressor, or so im hoping. i can turn the actual magnet of the clutch with my hand when its not running and it turns fine so i think the compressor is still good. i think my clutch just went out. does anyone have any other opininons and if it is my clutch, what tools and how long will it take to replace one. thanks

 

Good question. I treid to figure this out earlier but never seen anyone post back.

From what I have seen on other cars, you have to remove the front part of the AC compressor. But, I just don't know how is everything removed on our cars, and if it can be done with the compressor still on the car.

 

I did one on my dads 01 blazer the other week.

youll need a clutch hub remover and installer, you can buy this tool online, it threads into the front of the clutch and its a puller that you thread the center bolt on and it pulls it off.

All that required from there is removal of a slap ring and you can remove the clutch assembly and the coil can gently be pried off with 2 screwdrivers lightly. The blazers ac compressor is up top, more than likely youll need to remove the compressor or remove to make way to do it. I paid 135 for the entire clutch and coil setup from advance

 

in some cases youll be better off to go ahead and put a new compressor on it because after you spend the money to do that and the compressor goes you have wasted $150-$200 because the new one will have a clutch. Also, if you pull it off with the system charged there is the possibility of the freon pressure blowing the front seal out of the compressor. just a thought.

 

I'd be hoping it was the top idler pulley. When you turn the AC on the idler takes a lot more tension.
I'd take the belt off and see if it turns ok before doing anything with a clutch.
Also a good idea to see if the clutch is getting battery voltage.
The thing you turn isn't the magnet.
If it grinds whenever its on it's a problem. If it grinds for a second when you turn it on, maybe not.

 

same problem here on my 00 z28, im pretty sure its the clutch on the compressor that is bad. without the a/c turned on the clutch is grinding against the compressor pulley, for the time being im not even worried about having a/c until i have the money to buy new compressor my question is that the a/c drive belt being seperate from the main serpentine belt , its only function is to run the a/c compressor correct. i just want to stop the scrapping noise, can i simply remove the a/c belt to stop scrapping and drive without one without doing any damage ( as if the car had no a/c at all)

 

yes you can take it off w/o damage to anything.

 

Whenever I turn my A/C off it makes a metallic rattling noise. It goes away when I turn the A/C on. Is that my A/C clutch on the compressor?

 

Someone just sold a 20k mileage LS1 A/C compressor for 70 bucks.

 

the noises yall are hearing is the gap between the clutch and the clutch plate(shoe) is too tight. they are "scratching" together when disengaged. because one spinds and the other one does not.

Too loose will cause a non engagement issue, The system uses an electro magnet.

When I replaced the clutch on my dads blazer(same compressor) I had it too loose, i brought it in some more with the installer, and it worked, but it was too tight. I backed it off a little more and it was just a hare on the tight side, scratching some, But it went away after a day and never came back the clearances are just right. a/c has been working for months flawlessly now.

 

You need to back off the clutch plate from the pulley a little bit. The metal spring arms get bent slightly and then cause it to drag. Pulling it away just a little bit opens the space back up and keeps it from grinding (don't want it too far or the electromagnet behind the pulley won't be able to pull the clutch plate).

 

How can this be done?

 

There is a GM AC clutch pulley puller tool (say that 5 times fast ), you take the nut off the clutch plate, then this puller threads into the plate, you thread the center piece into the puller and tighten, as you tighten it pulls the plate away from the pulley. You only want to do it a little bit. Then remove the tool, put the nut back on snugly, and test. Good to go!

Check your local autozone and advance auto for the GM AC clutch puller to rent out.

I didn't do it that way, used a generic puller and destroyed my original AC clutch Then when I put the new one on I pressed it on too far and turned my AC on permanently for the week until I could rent the right tool and back the plate back off again.

 

Good Luck. I fought this battle in my wife's '00 V6. My clutch also went out. It made the car feel like you were pulling a bass boat. No *****, and loud A/C. I tried replacing the compressor clutch myself. side note: I swore off Autozone after their faulty (NEW) voltage regulators burned up my new alternators in my prelude (this is no joke) 9 times. But it was all under warranty, right? Right. Everything except the Amplifiers they burned up...

Bottom line, never use Autozone for anything other than off the shelf lubes and basics.

Anyways, back to the post: Autozone was the only shop in town that carried the clutch itself. reman for $100. it was the same part number and brand as everyone else in town, except this was instock, not special order.

I bought it and brought it home. Found out that you need the compressor clutch puller from GM to get the thing off. a universal kit will NOT work. I had to order my AC Clutch Puller / Installer tools ($40 ea) from a place called Standard Automotive. Still have it if you need it.

I had a guy replace just the clutch the first time. It worked for about 2 days but then it went out. Took it back to Autozone and replaced it myself the second time.

You can remove the clutch without breaking the seal if you are careful. I made the mistake of pulling off the clutch plate then taking out the Snap-Ring on the inside. DO NOT DO THIS!!! The Snap ring holds the front seal inside the compressor. Removing it will open the system, causing all your R134a to blow out. I found this out the second time when i did it myself.

After i accidentally evacuated the system, I pulled the compressor off the car and worked on it inside, insteady of laying down in the street like I had been. I replaced the faulty clutch and installed the new one.

The Second clutch had a problem. After I pumped down the system and recharged (adding oil) it too failed only this time it wasnt as obvious. Instead of not engaging, this one wouldnt dis-engage. With the car off you could spin the plate and the compressor independant of each other but with it on, the a/c ran full time. It caused my compressor to burn out after a few days of me trying to back off the clutch plate untill it stopped working.

I ended up buying a New Compressor, dryer, orifice tube, and hoses from a guy who sells this stuff on Ebay. lifetime warranty when it is charged at a shop (just show receipt). Paid $193 total (including S&H).

Put on the new compressor, hoses dryer and tube myself then had it flushed drained and charged for $125.

Looking back I should have done that in the first place. The $100 clutch plus the $80 for tools not to mention time was more than the $175 I paid in the long run ($18 s&h). Also, while I had the system apart, I replaced all the gaskets with new GM parts. After having it charged and losing air the second time I found I had a slow leak.

I took pictures of my work along the way so I could post them in a How to Thread... But I never got around to doing the write up. If you want them, let me know.

 

Classic problem- The clutch plate was too close to the clutch electromagnet.

wont disengage- Too close-
Wont engage- too far.

There are specs for this But allot of it is trial and error, I had to adjust it once to get what I was looking for- I wanted mine as tight as i could get it without it being too close. It only takes a minute to pull it in or out.

The Specs on my dads blazer is .016 between the parts (same compressor we have)

and my 99 corvette is like .017 thats been untouched.

As you can see the clearances are very tight. This job is not really that hard if your willing to do it. Thats whats wrong with everything today theres no real mechanics everyone now is just parts changers.

You cant even find parts to rebuild stuff at your parts store they only want to sell you complete units. For example, to rebuild your water pump all you really need is a bearing, and a small press you can get for cheap at northern tool. BUT you cant find those seals anywhere they purposely make those unavailable so you can spend 70 on a waterpump that cost 10 to rebuild.