Goughary

My car was fine this am, and then afternoon I started it and the AC Compressor was whining loudly - has anyone had any experience w this? Replace it? Rebuild it? Any fix?

Secondly - what is the difference btw the Denso AC Compressor with the clutch and without the clutch? Can we use either? Is one better than the other?

rstarga

Just replace the whole thing, the clutches take a beating, Griffiths has them.

-nick

I imagine that the one without the clutch just means that you have to reuse your current ac clutch. I don't remember it being very hard to pull off when I replaced the bearing in there.

Whining doesn't sound good though. Hot day today for the ac to fail.

Goughary

yeah - the ac actually works fine - just that the compressor makes huge noise...So I need to either it seems, replace the clutch bearing - or replace the AC Compressor. Is swapping the compressor a difficult job? I dont know what the process is or whether I need to charge the system after etc....

Anyone?

griffiths

Don't operate the compressor.
Unplug the clutch wire.
Take it to a shop.

Get a quote.

Goughary

I dont understand "unplug the clutch wire" Which wire is that and what does it do? Is the clutch an electric clutch? I've never had to touch an ac compressor before - so to me it's just that ugly box that sits on that ugly perch in the engine bay. To be honest - i never use the AC, so wouldnt be a bad idea to just do an AC delete...

Does anyone have any ideas on pros and cons of an AC Delete? My thought was always that if I were to do it, I'd go all the way and take out all the lines etc...but if that weren't an option, I'd just keep the AC as a "nice to have" and be done...

Jacke2c

If it is internal to the compressor and it is failing, you will throw a lot of trash inside your system and eventually cause other system failures. If it is the clutch slipping, you can change that only wiht the proper tools. If you change the compressor, you will have to vacuum the system down and change the compressor, and new clutch assembly which contains the bearing. If you are running the compprssor and it is whining, that is a sign that the compressor is about to fail... that is why they said stop using it immediatley or worse problems can develop (locking the compressor up, throwing the belt into the other belts and stranding you on the side of the road).

If you are not running the compressor (A/C) and it is whining, then you probably just need to change the clutch and its associated bearing, but again, it takes a special tool (often can be rented from local parts store) to remove and reinstall the clutch assembly.

Goughary

thanks - yeah - the thing whines exactly the same way with the ac on or off - it's just getting driven by the belt and whines cuz it's spinning... So I have expected its just the bearing. I have so much little stuff to do and this is just one of those things that I don't want to spend money on at the moment...so would love to do the leave expensive fix to cover the noise and be done...Got more important fish to fry at the moment - oil change, fuel filter, valve adjustment, plugs, wires, rotors, dist caps, coils, and I need to replace the alternator and the heater blower motor...so the ac clutch bearing on top is killing me....

thanks again all for chiming in..

-nick

Weird, with the a/c off, the clutch is spinning on its separate bearing. a/c on and the clutch is "mated" to the compressor and everything is spinning together. Hard to imagine what could cause the whine in both circumstances

- Unless the freon is low and the compressor isn't actually engaging when the a/c is "on". Easy to check, have someone click the a/c switch while you look at the compressor to see if the center of it is spinning. You'll also hear a an audible click at the clutch when it engages with the switch. If the compressor isn't engaging then it's just down to the clutch bearing.

If you want nothing more than to get rid of the noise for now, then just pull the belt off.

911Jetta

Goughary,
My compressor also whines loudly when engaged. The noise disappears as soon as I disengage the compressor (to it off).

This first started happening just after I replaced my motor mounts. At first I thought the buzzing noise came from the AC lines coming in contact with the engine grill. I could see pressure marks on the lines from the grill... but the noise continued even after moving over the lines over.

JJJMCD

Try spraying a little silicon spray (using the straw in the spray nozzle) in between the pulley and the compressor housing, while the engine is running so it gets distributed in the mechanism. My A/C compressor was making a noise and that did the trick.

KaiB

Should anybody want it, I have the original (44K mile) compressor and lines I pulled from Claudia two summers ago.

964Heaven

I'll take it , mine tanked two weeks ago