Yet Another Kind of Death Rattle

This time, the a/c compressor started making a whine and rattle. It was, at first, quite difficult to track down until I got on the ground next to the passenger tire and had a good listen. As it turns out, the large bearings holding the compressor clutch and pulley assembly to the compressor shaft are prone to failure. This wouldn't be such a problem if there were a bypass belt available for this car. Unfortunately, due to the odd routing mentioned before, it's not. The aftermarket for a pulley that spins freely to replace the compressor hasn't enough demand for production (though it's available for many other year/models), so no joy there.

Being naturally frugal, I'd originally thought to replace just the bearing to keep the pulley from eventually welding itself to the shaft and snapping the serpentine belt. Don't bother doing this. Not just because the compressor usually fails shortly after. Don't try it because it won't work. The majority of a/c shops no longer do this particular repair, either. (Luckily Ancira Chevy let us return the useless $30 bearing, even though I'd opened the package)

I know this sounds silly, why would the dealership and parts store carry the bearing alone if there were no way to replace it? I don't have an answer to that, but let's have a look at the clutch assembly on the HD6 compressor that came with this car. *

Here's the front view and if this doesn't make you think twice about fooling with it, it should. First, you'll need three special tools that will never see light of day again after this job. Second: If yours has been doing it's noise bit for some time, there' a good chance that the heat has welded the bearing to the surfaces you'll be trying to remove it from.


The tools:


I found the puller/installer tools at Napa for about $35, but if you can wait a couple of days, they'll be found quite a bit cheaper on the net. Autozone had the loaner clutch holder (which I'm keeping) for $18. The pipe used to hold this rather dinged up the handle of what was a brand new tool.

On the left we have the tool used to install the clutch and on the right is the removal tool. Be sure you have a wrench large enough to fit the big nut.

Keep in mind, if you plan to actually use the air conditioner, it's been fairly well established that the compressor usually fails shortly after this clutch and bearing part. You may just want to replace the entire thing, which involves replacing the evaporator/dryer unit as well as flushing the entire system.

Coming Next: The actual procedure, with a few brand new Miserable Failures thrown in. Titled: Now I Can Hear My Failing Power Steering Pump Very Well.


*Words of Warning: If you're thinking of doing this, you need to look carefully at the part offered from the part store. The car this came from was a non-supercharged model, but the compressor clutch is from a supercharged version. Whether this was swapped at the factory or later is anyone's guess, but you might want to be sure the part you're getting is correct because the pulley is a different size and may require a different size of belt.