AC broke

RAYMAN975 · **Posted:** Mon May 25, 2009 10:07 am

so im driving home from a wedding on the highway yesterday, have my AC on, and smell something burning, thought it was the POS car in front of me, well i get around him, and i still smell it, i finally get home soon after that, still smelling it strongly, pop my hood, and see this! it doesnt sound pretty either, like something is grinding, not TOO loud, but its definitely not smooth or quiet like its supposed to be.

anybody ever seen this? is this the AC clutches that burned and melted throwing the melted clutches everywhere? or is it oil? its like a tar substance, not very oily, its tacky and sticky.

i checked prices on a new clutch, but you gotta buy the whole compressor/clutch assembly as one, Advance Auto has it for 299, Autozone has it for 349, but im still going to check the dealer, might even just go with a NON-AC belt for now. would i have to unplug anything from the compressor if i go with a NON-AC belt?

Diggerfreek · **Posted:** Mon May 25, 2009 11:59 am

Looks like cooked PAG oil.

Xodius · **Posted:** Mon May 25, 2009 3:09 pm

eek. That does not look too good. Mine is dead right now too but I just have a couple of bad seals I found out. While it may look bad hopefully it really is not.

RAYMAN975 · **Posted:** Mon May 25, 2009 4:32 pm

well i got it temporarily fixed so at least i can still drive my jeep that uses a shorter belt that bypasses the AC compressor, i found a writeup on jeepforum about a guy who used a shorter belt to totally bypass the AC, i did it and it works great, but his belt size was wrong, but i got it all figured out after 2 trips to the parts store

the writeup said use a 6rib 13/16" belt, that is 79 1/2" long, but the correct belt length that worked on mine was 82.5"

82" was too small, 83.5" was too big.

he also said you have to rig the ac compressor by using 1 out of the 3 ac compressor bolts. clamping it onto the mount using the long bolt on the drivers side of the comressor, without the bolts going through the hole, well i didnt like that, seemed like it would vibrate loose. So i took off the pulley and its got plenty of clearance for the belt re-route, while still using all 3 compressor bolts, mounting it where its supposed to be.

its REALLY hard to explain but heres a shot, if you read it, it makes sense lol :lol:

but if you look at your compressor at the bolt that is closer to the alternator, the bolt goes through the compressor, AND through the mount. well he says to take out the bolt, flip up the compressor, put the bolt through the compressor, but not through the mount, and push the compressor on as far as it will go onto the mount, and tighten the bolt to clamp it onto the mount using the little ears around the bolt holes as the clamp area, and not use the other 2 bolts since they will not line up anymore since the other one is out of the hole anyways.

on mine, it looks like the electronic magnet, that engages the clutch, shorted out and melted/burned up, i guess thats what the black goo/tar is

so if anybody else has a AC clutch sieze/burn up on them, but dont have the money to replace it right away(like meee) hope this helps them!!

Guest · **Posted:** Mon May 25, 2009 5:59 pm

You realize that it was probably the fact that the compressor locked up and caused the clutch to slip, right?

Just sayin'

This is why ThunderbirdJunkie evacs and recharges his AC every 2 years...fresh oil=:)

Also, you getting any noise out of that alternator? Hopefully the fried clutch goop didn't get into the bearings of the alt

LIV42DY · **Posted:** Mon May 25, 2009 8:27 pm

You are looking at about, 850 to 1000 bucks to replace and recharge the AC, and thats Non Dealer price, plus the belt, and you should make sure the tensioner is good shape.

Jeepjeepster · **Posted:** Mon May 25, 2009 8:41 pm

If you can find a compressor for cheap its not that big a deal to replace it yourself. Take it to a shop and have a vacuum pulled on it and recharged.

We had one replaced for under $300 parts+labor but we got a good deal on labor(friend).

RAYMAN975 · **Posted:** Mon May 25, 2009 8:44 pm

the tensioner is new-er maybe 20k miles ago, got it replaced when i got my new engine

and when i had the belt off, i spun the alternator, and nothing got around the bearings or inside the case on the windings, i unplugged the AC compressor too so it doesnt kick on when i have my defrosters on, or when i switch the knob past the AC mode

i cant believe AC work costs so much, looks like this will be more of a permanent mod then haha

maybe ill try Daveys Jeeps junkyard when i go to pick up my ARB bumper from 4WD Hardware, they might have one. im not positive if the actual pump is bad yet, the compressor spins just fine. my nieghbor looked at it, and he said the electronic magnet shorted out on the clutch, or something like that, so the pump might be ok, if i can find just the clutch somewhere, who knows, ill have some more people look at it. when i removed the pulley with clutches, the bearing inside that was toasted, thats what was making all the noise. who needs AC anyways, thats why i have 4 windows that i can open! thats what i do 99% of the time is just open the windows instead of using AC

tjkj2002 · **Posted:** Mon May 25, 2009 9:16 pm

It's easier just to have the whole compressor replaced then trying to replace that dang clutch alone.Precise install is needed to have it operate correctly.

tjkoen01 · **Posted:** Mon May 25, 2009 9:19 pm

looks like you lost the front seal on the compressor and spewed oil everywhere.

Guest · **Posted:** Mon May 25, 2009 11:02 pm

tjkj2002 wrote:

It's easier just to have the whole compressor replaced then trying to replace that dang clutch alone.Precise install is needed to have it operate correctly.

Yup, labor for the clutch by itself is about the same as the cost difference in parts.

ITBJHO, $1000 is WELL WORTH having working AC!

RAYMAN975 · **Posted:** Tue May 26, 2009 12:37 am

yea ill just save up for a new compressor. is it worth going for the oem compressor? or are the advance auto or napa ones ok?

tjkj2002 · **Posted:** Tue May 26, 2009 12:45 am

RAYMAN975 wrote:

yea ill just save up for a new compressor. is it worth going for the oem compressor? or are the advance auto or napa ones ok?

There okay but don't expect them to last,you also need to replace the accumulator/receiver dryer and orifice tube when a new pump is put on otherwise expect a real short life for the new pump.

ATXKJ · **Posted:** Tue May 26, 2009 2:44 am

RAYMAN975 wrote:

i unplugged the AC compressor too so it doesnt kick on when i have my defrosters on, or when i switch the knob past the AC mode

Hate to say it - but that could kill the compressor - they need to cycle to keep lubrication in there.

adamkrz · **Posted:** Tue May 26, 2009 7:57 pm

tjkj2002 wrote:

RAYMAN975 wrote:

yea ill just save up for a new compressor. is it worth going for the oem compressor? or are the advance auto or napa ones ok?

There okay but don't expect them to last,you also need to replace the accumulator/receiver dryer and orifice tube when a new pump is put on otherwise expect a real short life for the new pump.

Correct, Most won't cover the warranty unless you replace the accumlater/receiver-dryer along with compressor. Anything floating around inside the system would just kill the new compressor.

Many years ago we would just flush the system with R-12, before the ozone layer became depleated.

AC broke

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