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AC Compressor going bad— except it isn’t!
http://www.lostjeeps.com/forum/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=88&t=88972		 Page 1 of 1
Author:  lfhoward [ Sun Jul 01, 2018 9:42 pm ]
Post subject:  AC Compressor going bad— except it isn’t!
In April the serpentine belt began squealing, and this was diagnosed as a bad air conditioning compressor. The connection with the compressor seemed straight forward because when I would turn on the air conditioning, there would immediately be belt squeal, and when I turned it off, it would go away. A mechanic verified this while watching the AC clutch. The shop told me this would be about $600-800 for a new compressor plus labor. I didn’t have the money at the time, so I declined, and disconnected the electrical pigtail from the compressor clutch to prevent an engine fire or compressor blowing up.

Fast forward to today. It’s the hottest week of the summer and I’ve been without air conditioning since April. Then I noticed this:

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That’s not right! The belt shouldn’t come across the top. Here is the correct belt routing for the 3.7:

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All fixed as of this afternoon.

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The squeal is gone, and the air conditioning functions fine. And I am not $600-800 poorer.

So, what happened? I had the water pump replaced in April, and they must have put the belt back on incorrectly afterwards. In the incorrect arrangement, there was only 1/2 the belt contact on the AC compressor pulley, allowing the belt to slip when the clutch was engaged.
Author:  Scar0 [ Mon Jul 02, 2018 8:45 am ]
Post subject:  Re: AC Compressor going bad— except it isn’t!
Oh, boy. That is funny, but not. Couldn't any of the shops read the diagram that is on the Rad upper cross member? :roll:
Good catch by the way!
Author:  lfhoward [ Mon Jul 02, 2018 2:23 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: AC Compressor going bad— except it isn’t!
Thanks, Scar0. I’m pretty excited to have solved 1/2 my HVAC issues for free. The other separate issue is the gears on my blend door flap are broken, which means the air distribution box needs changing out. I’m still deciding do I want to fix it myself for $180 or pay a shop $1000+ because I’d have to take the whole dashboard off to get to it. I would have to do this while parked on the street in front of my house because I don’t have a driveway. :juggle:
Author:  Scar0 [ Mon Jul 02, 2018 9:22 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: AC Compressor going bad— except it isn’t!
Red neck it and park in the yard. :-)r
A long time back I had a rig I was working on while it was parked in the street. It was not my daily driver, so I was taking my time. Anyway, the city came along and threatened to tow it away if I did not move it. It was parked in front of MY house! I owned the house...
I was rebuilding the engine, so it was not like an eyesore or anything like that. it looked like any other rig parked along the street. It was a remote side street BTW with very little local traffic. Every 3 days I had to go out and roll it forward or backward 10-15 feet to make it appear like it was being driven. It was so stupid because I had room for 3-4 cars to park in front of my house and I only owned 2 at the time. The rest of the area in front of my house was always empty! Did I mention it was a corner lot and the other side never had anything parked there?
Finally I gave up and pushed it into the yard and the city left me alone. It was OK to park it in the lawn as long as I wanted, as long as it did not block the sidewalk... :roll:
Sometimes I wonder about city code BS, and what idiot makes it up.
Author:  lfhoward [ Mon Jul 02, 2018 11:57 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: AC Compressor going bad— except it isn’t!
Yes, I hear you about the city being unpredictable and weird about vehicles being worked on while parked on the street. My house comes practically right up to the sidewalk (Philly row house built 1915 before cars were a big thing) so there is no driveway or yard to park in. The question is, would I be able to complete the job before getting a ticket/towed? People say a heater core is a 2 day job if you’ve never done it before (which I haven’t), but I’m careful and it could take me longer because I work slow and methodical. 3 days?

This is where the job would have to be done.
Image
Author:  Scar0 [ Tue Jul 03, 2018 3:51 am ]
Post subject:  Re: AC Compressor going bad— except it isn’t!
Ya, that would be a hard place to work. It would also be pretty obvious it could not be driven with the dash missing... Do you have a way to blackout the windows till it is done?
I know in some areas they have "bring your own tools" shop spaces that are for rent. Perhaps that would be an option for you. It can't be more expensive then install labor costs.
Sorry bud, don't know what more to say about your situation. I wish you luck with your endeavor.

I guess I can call myself spoiled for never having lived in a high dense area, and never lived in a townhouse or apartment. I did live in a duplex with a driveway 1 time when I was in college. Since then I've always been in a house with a yard and at least a driveway. Most places I've had a garage too. Now, my tools alone, would fill a good size bedroom, if packed tight. LOL
Author:  tjkj2002 [ Tue Jul 03, 2018 8:27 am ]
Post subject:  Re: AC Compressor going bad— except it isn’t!
lfhoward wrote:

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I can't tell you how many times I've seen this on any Chrysler with the 3.7/4.7,it's a super common mistake.Seen many GM's with the 4.8/5.3/6.1/6.2 come in with the belt routed "wrong" also.
Author:  MarkZ28 [ Wed Jul 04, 2018 5:32 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: AC Compressor going bad— except it isn’t!
Thank God I have a big garage and a big area outside to work on cars. I hate apartments. Nothing against city loving poeple but Id hate to live in a huge city with no room or legal right to park where you want to.
Author:  lfhoward [ Wed Jul 04, 2018 6:02 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: AC Compressor going bad— except it isn’t!
MarkZ28 wrote:
Thank God I have a big garage and a big area outside to work on cars. I hate apartments. Nothing against city loving poeple but Id hate to live in a huge city with no room or legal right to park where you want to.

I hear that. It sure can be inconvenient when I want to work on the Jeep several days in a row. :roll: But, there are perks. Absolute minimum of yard work. 8) 10 minutes to walk to the grocery store, the train, and then convenient access to everywhere in the city while skipping traffic. My Jeep gets 8-12 mpg in the city, but with my feet and the trains I only fill up about 1-2x per month. That’s a lot better wallet mileage than I got at my former suburban home where I commuted 70 miles a day at 18 mpg and filled up 7x per month. And I’m an hour from the shore or the mountains here, so I do get to use the Jeep for what it was designed for. All in all I like it here. :D
Author:  yellkayak [ Fri Aug 10, 2018 8:49 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: AC Compressor going bad— except it isn’t!
I have had my 2008 Liberty for a year and a half , the belt squealed when the AC was switched on I figured the unit was going to destruct soon. I found the same incorrect belt routing, I took about 30 minutes to correct the problem. No sounds to be heard now .
Thanks
Author:  lfhoward [ Sat Aug 11, 2018 1:47 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: AC Compressor going bad— except it isn’t!
yellkayak wrote:
I have had my 2008 Liberty for a year and a half , the belt squealed when the AC was switched on I figured the unit was going to destruct soon. I found the same incorrect belt routing, I took about 30 minutes to correct the problem. No sounds to be heard now .
Thanks

Nice! Glad this thread helped identify the problem and a free fix.
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