pukas808

So I have a 2002 Civic Si. AC was only blowing warm air, and couple weeks ago the serpentine belt broke. Replaced the belt today started engine but heard some knocking noise and sparks coming from the AC Compressor Clutch. I figured the AC Comprssor froze and broke the belt. How hard is it to replace the compressor and is there anything else that needs to be replaced with the compressor? Or do you think just the clutch needs to be rebuilt? Thank you in advance.

Poopies

iTrader: (4)

Bam. https://www.civicforums.com/forums/1...essor-diy.html
It looks like it takes some doing, like removing the power steering pump and bumper but not THAT bad. You should try out the search button :-)

kdliberty

water pump. It run off that belt. always replace together..

pukas808

I saw that thread but my compressor is on the passenger side not the driver's side. It looks like it has two belts not a serpentine belt like my Si.

ezone

....

ezone

Honda sells the clutch set (plate and pulley) and field coil separately from the compressor, if that's what you need.

pukas808

The clutch set I found on ebay for about $90.00. Remanufactured compressor from O'reilly about $200.00. Do you think my clutch is messed up or compressor? There were some sparks coming out from the clutch side of the compressor. I would hate to change out the clutch and thats not the problem and spend another $200.00 to buy compressor.

Has anyone got a shorter belt and bypassed the compressor. Someone mentioned the shorted belt size in an earlier thread but there was no reply if it worked or not.

ezone

Typical problem is the bearing for the pulley fails, that lets the pulley wobble and contact the body of the compressor.
Remove the belt, grab the compressor pulley and wiggle it. Then spin it. It should be obvious if that's the problem, play and bearing noise.

Then try to spin the clutch hub: it should turn, but with some resistance.

If I see these, and there is refrigerant in the system, I'd just put a pulley and clutch (and coil if necessary) on it.

I'd rather not toss any aftermarket reman compressor at anything if I can avoid it. Super high failure rate, you may be replacing it every year from here on out. Or replacing the entire AC system if a compressor blows up internally.



Without being able to see the engine in question, I'll guess that it is not possible to bypass the compressor due to the locations and layout of the other drive pulleys. And I really doubt the aftermarket has a bypass dummy pulley available for this.

HTH

pukas808

So if I can spin the pulley can I assume the compressor is still good? If the clutch is bad can I take it off, and still drive the car while I wait for the new one to come in? Would a bad clutch cause the serpentine belt to break? Sorry for all the questions. Thank you for all your help.

ezone

No.

The pulley spins independently of the compressor shaft, you can't tell if the compressor is any good only by spinning the pulley.

The pulley is the wheel that the belt rides on. It has its own bearing and it is supposed to spin freely.

This is the setup on any typical AC compressor:




The pulley is free to spin with the belt driving it, the clutch plate is bolted directly to the shaft of the compressor.

When the compressor is needed, the electromagnet is powered on to pull the clutch plate against the pulley and 'lock' them together.



I can't really answer that, because I can't see what part failed on your car.
I can only guess that the pulley bearing is bad, and removing the clutch plate cannot help your situation.

HTH

pukas808

Thank you "Ezone" so if I spin the pulley and it doesn't spin freely its probably the bearing right, or I am hoping that's the problem.

ezone

Well, if the clutch hub is dragging against the pulley it won't be free to spin, right? So make sure that isn't an issue first.

Remove the serpentine belt.
Grab the pulley and wiggle it. If the pulley is free to wobble side to side (axial play, radial play, lateral play, etc.) it's a problem.
Spin the pulley, if the bearing is bad it will be noisy. A good bearing is tight and quiet.


Noisy bearing, and the guy seems to like playing with it LOL

The pulley in this one spins super free (and makes dry clicking noises), BUT the pulley can wobble side to side



Then spin the clutch hub part of the compressor..... see if it is locked up, spins freely, or turns with a little resistance. Then decide if the compressor is likely to be good.






See, most people would just chuck an entire compressor at the problem.
I personally feel much better finding and fixing the source of the problem, without resorting to a cheapo complete unit that is usually of low quality and a potential (definite) comeback job. Nobody is happy when that happens. I can usually replace the pulley and clutch without having to discharge and recharge the freon. (Not always, but usually. Depends on the amount of room I can make near it.)

Hondas compressors (all except for some CRVs IMO) have been reliable enough that I feel quite comfortable putting a pulley or clutch set on one, keeping the original compressor going for as long as possible.

ezone

Hey, this dude found an AC elimination kit (basically a pulley mounted to a bracket) for his K24 engine swap. I have no idea if it would fit a K20 or if it is available for the K20.

https://www.civicforums.com/forums/7...er-k-swap.html




Ya know what.....Looking at that setup there makes me think it might be possible to simply use a shorter belt to bypass the compressor.....but this pic is missing the PS and alternator.

Experiment?

pukas808

I was thinking a shorter belt would work but I was reading one thread, I am not sure where, but it said they were experimenting with different belt sizes and couldn't find one that fit.

Anyways I had time to check the pulley and I couldn't turn it by hand. I am not familiar with A/C compressors, could the pulley bearing be frozen not allowing the pulley to turn, but the clutch be able to turn? I was not able to turn the clutch either by hand. Once again thank you for all your folks help.

ezone

Not good
Yes

Not good....I'd probably remove the clutch plate to see if the compressor shaft itself will turn, because if the pulley is stuck in a position that has it crooked and wedged against the clutch plate, that would give the appearance of both being stuck.

You checked out the videos I posted?

pukas808

Ezone, just wondering can you take off the clutch with out the special tool, like wedging a screw driver or something? I think I read somewhere where someone did that.

ezone

Air impact gun! Just pull the trigger and ZIP it's apart.


You could probably hold the clutch plate from spinning with a large pair of channel locks? I can't see what you have to work with.