[DAK]

AC quit working during a drive recently. Got home and looked under the hood while my son cycled the AC on and off, clutch was not engaging. I tried charging the system as I've done before, but the pressure gauge on the refrigerant line went straight into the red with the R-134 can getting noticeably warmer, so I disconnected it. I backed off the ramps I was using and turned off the engine. When I drove the car later that day, I tried turning the AC on again and heard an ugly noise come from the engine, so turned AC off, noise went away. After getting home, I checked under the hood and discovered that the AC compressor pulley was not turning with the engine running, the accessory belt was just dragging across it. I turned the engine off and saw that the belt had fresh signs of damage and little pieces of it were all over the engine compartment. Questions: is it the compressor or the clutch that is bad? I looked on pelican and saw a denso compressor listed far less expensive than OEM, will it fit on my '94?



1994 Coupe, 125K

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[tamathumper]

I'd strongly recommend taking it to an AC specialist - there's no way to tell what the pressures are on both the high side and low side with only one gauge on a can (which is only connected to the low side). It needs to be measured with proper manifold gauges and most likely evacuated, vacuum tested, and recharged properly (by weight). Only when you have a known (and proper) charge in the system, can you troubleshoot the clutch and compressor.

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[DAK]

I don't even want to start the engine now that I can see the pulley is frozen. Regardless of refrigerant charge shouldn't the pulley still turn freely? Anyway, I'm just trying to arm myself with some knowledge before I turn it over to a mechanic, troubleshooting the AC yet alone R&R the compressor is over my lowly skills.

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[Lear35A]

[quote name='DAK' timestamp='1378258402' post='148667']

Regardless of refrigerant charge shouldn't the pulley still turn freely?

[/quote]

Yes. If the clutch isn't energized, I don't see that the condition of the compressor would have anything to do with the pulley being frozen. The clutch has a fairly good sized bearing (I think ball bearing) on which the pulley rotates. That must be what failed. I'll be interested in what the mechanic finds.

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[tamathumper]

If you remove the belt, you should be able to start and run it until the battery dies.

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[Lear35A]

Just FYI here's a picture from the inside of the AC pulley. You can see the large bearing with its green seal at the center. Hard to believe that this could fail, but I don't see anything else that could cause the pulley to lock up.

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[DAK]

Nice pic...how possible is it to remove clutch w/out removing compressor?

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[Lear35A]

Easy. As I recall its just one nut and one circlip. However you need just the right circlip pliers. There's not much access space between it and the radiator. (And of course the belt has to be off.)

i had my clutch off and on a number of times when I was troubleshooting an AC problem. It did turn out to be a failed clutch. What tripped me up was that the internal resistance of my bad clutch and a good one was the same. I do have a relatively cheap multimeter, and maybe that was the problem.

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[DAK]

Good to know, will take a look this weekend.

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[hot968]

Just a question on the same subject. My car had fantastic pick up from a stop until I had the A/C repaired. Once it was repaired I lost a lot of off the mark, from a stop HP. No one seems to know why this happened and the mechanic just shrugged ?

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[Paul W]

[quote name='hot968' timestamp='1378514210' post='148844']

Just a question on the same subject. My car had fantastic pick up from a stop until I had the A/C repaired. Once it was repaired I lost a lot of off the mark, from a stop HP. No one seems to know why this happened and the mechanic just shrugged ?

[/quote]



The first thing I would consider is to see if you have the AC compressor off, does it have great pick up? Does it have a stick? Or Auto?

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[DAK]

With belt removed the pulley rotates by hand but it feels like something is dragging. I want to remove the clutch now, but what is the technique to remove the nut holding the clutch on? There must be some way to hold the compressor shaft in place while I turn the nut with a socket...

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[Lear35A]

Yes, you do have to hold the pulley when backing off this nut. You need a tool like in the picture. This one is actually for turning the big nuts that support the spring on a ride height adjustable shock, but it works.

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[hot968]

I have a stick-6 speed

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[DaveN]

Just a note that I had the same pulley seize on my S2 but it wasn't the bearing - the coil inside the pulley melted and jammed up the works.

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[DAK]

That may be what I have. After getting under the car and taking a good look at it, seems based on rotating pulley by hand that the clutch and pulley are binding together and clutch is stuck in the engaged position even with engine not running. I can't get the clutch off, there is no where to grip with wrench to remove center nut.

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[hot968]

Paul W I tried it with the compressor on and off there was no difference in pick up. I had the A/C fixed and the fuel pump replaced do you think the fuel pump could be faulty? It was a new one.

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[Paul W]

A fuel pump either works or it doesn't. If it was replaced and the car doesn't have as much power as before, and the engine isn't starving and missing, then I would say there is no issues with the fuel pump.



One long shot is to check your throttle cable where it goes over the round pulley in the engine bay. I was troubleshooting my car, and it came off and was on the side of the pulley, which meant I could not full depress the throttle. Had about 50% power. Then found the cable off the pulley, and put it back on and gained 100 HP at least! Just a long shot, you can see the cable off the pulley in this picture:

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[hot968]

Paul W yes my car had the same thing u r showing with the wire out of place the mechanic just put it back on the round thing and said it is fine. Funny we both had the same thing happen.

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[flash]

lol - re: fuel pump - clearly you've never had a british sports car. those pumps were great one day, shot the next, weak in between. as stated though, not likely the issue here.



re: the cable - happens all the time. when you manually actuate the throttle from under the hood, it frequently pops off the pulley.

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