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Woody · 08-23-2002, 10:44 AM

mtdave,

Several years ago I did the Clutch only repair. Part houses wanted more for the clutch asm than they wanted for the whole compressor. What's wrong with that picture???

Any way, I got an old compressor from the wrecking yard yunk van (old chevy van full of old bad compressors and various other stuff) and soon found that you need special tools to hold the clutch and pull it off of the compressor. I found a guy (brother's Father-in-law= old chevy guy) who had the tools and let me use them. It worked great for another year or so, then the clutch went again. I think it got too hot from running the a/c for a long time (such as on a trip for a couple hours) and/or the compressor was getting hard to turn. This caused the clutch to slip and generate too much heat, then failure. So another clutch may only last a short time if you have other problems.

It was however a fairly simple change. Had to remove the belt and the fan shroud was in the way of the tools so it had to be moved by removing the bolts and turning it. It would have went smoother if the shrud was off the truck. But I did not have to depressurize the system (BIG BONUS!) so it worth the trouble.

08-23-2002, 10:44 AM	#6
Woody Registered User Join Date: Feb 2000 Location: Georgetown, KY, USA Posts: 631	mtdave, Several years ago I did the Clutch only repair. Part houses wanted more for the clutch asm than they wanted for the whole compressor. What's wrong with that picture??? Any way, I got an old compressor from the wrecking yard yunk van (old chevy van full of old bad compressors and various other stuff) and soon found that you need special tools to hold the clutch and pull it off of the compressor. I found a guy (brother's Father-in-law= old chevy guy) who had the tools and let me use them. It worked great for another year or so, then the clutch went again. I think it got too hot from running the a/c for a long time (such as on a trip for a couple hours) and/or the compressor was getting hard to turn. This caused the clutch to slip and generate too much heat, then failure. So another clutch may only last a short time if you have other problems. It was however a fairly simple change. Had to remove the belt and the fan shroud was in the way of the tools so it had to be moved by removing the bolts and turning it. It would have went smoother if the shrud was off the truck. But I did not have to depressurize the system (BIG BONUS!) so it worth the trouble.