Bypassed AC pulley

callaway · **Posted:** Tue Jun 01, 2010 11:56 am

While driving around this weekend, a terrible grinding noise started coming from under the hood. Thought it was a pulley, so took the belt off and started moving them by hand. The pulley attached to the AC compressor had LOTS of play in it and was binding, and after seeing how bad it was, I didn't want to put the belt back on and finish the trip knowing just how bad the pulley was. So I pulled the pulley off, and put a shorter belt ( belt length to bypass is 82.5" ) on to bypass the AC compressor...

Question time...

1) Is bypassing the AC doing anything to harm the kj ? Aside not having the cabin cool, is it safe to run this setup for a while ? ( Don't really have the cash atm to replace compressor assembly )

2) Is the AC compressor assembly something I can replace myself, or do I need to have a shop do that ? ( is there freon in there ? will the epa people come yell at me for replacing/removing the compressor ? )

tjkj2002 · **Posted:** Tue Jun 01, 2010 12:18 pm

No harm bypassing the AC compressor.

Unless you have the proper equipment to do AC work then no it's not a DIY fix,it is illegal to vent R134A into the air just like R12,and you need to pull a vacuum on the system before recharging with the specific amount of R134A and PAG oil.If replacing the compressor more then just the compressor needs to be changed,the receiver/dryer and orifice tub must also be replaced.You can just replace the clutch but special tools are needed and the clutch alone costs about as much as the new compressor.

ridenby · **Posted:** Tue Jun 01, 2010 12:21 pm

Been running the bypass set up for 3months,no difficulty so far. As far as EPA no idea.

callaway · **Posted:** Tue Jun 01, 2010 12:38 pm

tjkj2002 wrote:

Unless you have the proper equipment to do AC work then no it's not a DIY fix,it is illegal to vent R134A into the air just like R12,and you need to pull a vacuum on the system before recharging with the specific amount of R134A and PAG oil.If replacing the compressor more then just the compressor needs to be changed,the receiver/dryer and orifice tub must also be replaced.You can just replace the clutch but special tools are needed and the clutch alone costs about as much as the new compressor.

That's what I needed to know

Thanks for the info !

ridenby wrote:

Been running the bypass set up for 3months,no difficulty so far

Will this have any influence on how defrost works ? Doesn't the ac kick in a little when I turn the defroster on ?

InCommando · **Posted:** Tue Jun 01, 2010 2:46 pm

Everything will work just fine.

As to what you do with your own vehicle and what you can get away with varies greatly from state-to-state. Their would be zero eco-nazi reprecussions most places if you did it yourself. Ask yourself: If your A/C hose busted or was damaged in an accident, and the gases vented, what would happen? Would you be tracked down and thrown into a Kalifornia EcoGulag? :-)r

callaway · **Posted:** Tue Jun 01, 2010 3:34 pm

InCommando wrote:

Ask yourself: If your A/C hose busted or was damaged in an accident, and the gases vented, what would happen? Would you be tracked down and thrown into a Kalifornia EcoGulag? :-)r

Ya never know anymore :roll:

jeepfrog · **Posted:** Tue Jun 01, 2010 6:22 pm

I ran mine w/o an AC compressor 9 months with no issues. Ordered a new one from Jeep Air - had the local Midas do the install.

Jeep Dawg · **Posted:** Tue Jun 01, 2010 8:57 pm

tjkj2002 wrote:

No harm bypassing the AC compressor.

Unless you have the proper equipment to do AC work then no it's not a DIY fix,it is illegal to vent R134A into the air just like R12,and you need to pull a vacuum on the system before recharging with the specific amount of R134A and PAG oil.If replacing the compressor more then just the compressor needs to be changed,the receiver/dryer and orifice tub must also be replaced.You can just replace the clutch but special tools are needed and the clutch alone costs about as much as the new compressor.

EXACTLY!

If you have the HVAC tools, then it is an easy job. I did mine with no problems. Basicaly it took my total time of HALF hour to Remove and Replace AC Comp, orif/accum/dryer. The vac took time. I hooked up my vac pump and drew a 450Micron/29.9"VAC. held it for 2 hours and dumped a weighed exact charge into the system.

Bypassed AC pulley

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