PEvans

So my AC works (I rarely use it), but one of the mounting ears on the air conditioning compressor case broke. This makes it impossible to get good tension on the alternator belt.

I have never heard of this before, so I figured I would document it here. The compressor is Denso, probably original from 1989. You can see the adjustable mounting bracket is trashed - I don't know what caused what.

I did not see any alternative other than replacing the compressor (or AC delete), so I ended up getting a replacement Denso compressor kit with a reman compressor, new drier, and compressor to condenser hose from griffiths.com, and converted the system to R134a.

Painful for something I don't really need.

Crazy Eddie

That sucks and not a cheap repair !!
Mine is toast but I think its the clutch ..? no matter... they don't repair these things anymore the just replace the whole thing

Tom M'Guinn

You must have hit something to bend that tensioner so badly, no?

PEvans

^^ reasonable conclusion, but not that I am aware of. Strange.

Tom M'Guinn

Or maybe the ear cracked off on it's own, due to vibration, thermal expansion, or whatever, and that tensioner got jammed into the road? How did you discover it? Unusual for sure.

PEvans

I think this was it - the ear cracking due to vibration and age. I think the ear that broke is actually the one that fastens to the engine, not the one that fastens to the adjustable tensioner.

I don't think I hit anything or anything hit the road. I think I would have been aware, and lots of other parts would have been affected.

Voith

Very strange. Possibly it fell on the ground when it was out of the car and cracked then?

Auto_Werks 3.6

Mine broke the rear tab off....
In my case the front bolt may have been left loose when I tensioned the belt. At any rate, the front bolt walked all the way out and then the rear tab and the tensioner were the only things holding it in place, causing the rear tab to snap off. The first warning sign was a squeaky belt, and it was too late.