Hello,

My mother in law inherited my wife’s 2003 Civic LX. A week ago she needed a jump start to get it going and went to the auto parts store to get a new battery. Two days later, the new battery was dead. Figuring it was an alternator issue, I had it towed to my house in order to work on it. This morning I went out to jack the car up in order to change the alternator and saw a broken belt sticking out underneath. Just a broken belt, I thought to myself and went to the auto store and got an alternator-ac belt and a new power steering belt. Changed out both belts, (what a terrible design I thought, fighting those wingnut bolts...) and then brought my truck over to jump start the car. Cranked slowly, then fired up. Immediately I heard a “grinding squeal” that persisted for the short time I let the car run. Shut it off, could smell a burning type smell, like the new belt...

I spun both the ac clutch and the alternator pulley and they the free wheeled so I didn’t think anything like they were seized up. I called up my mother in law and asked if the air conditioning worked the last time she drove the car and tried to use it. She said it didn’t work the time she tried it.

So I’m thinking that the alternator may be ok and the ac clutch is seizing/seized and needs to be replaced based on the noise I heard when I started it. Or maybe both are on the frizz and both need to be done. Is the clutch replacement tough to do or is it better to replace the entire compressor?

Thoughts?

Thanks

Confused, before you just replace something, why don’t you look at the belts while the engine is running and see iwhich one of the pulleys is seized...There is not even a idler wheel and you know it’s not the harmonic balancer stuck so that just leaves 3 other things spinning..

Use a hollow tube with one end near your ear and move the other around to locate the noise.
Don’t wrap it around your hand, arm, neck or anything you care about Incase it gets caught in a belt.

Also if your cursing that wingnut, you might not have loosened both alternator mounting bolts..

Just be sure to retighten them both back up when your done else you will fry your ECU.

I think it's the AC clutch. It's too hot to touch after letting the car idle for a minute or so. Plus I never got cold air inside.

i was going to bypass the compressor so she could at least drive the car but the civic alternator only belt is too long and I can't adjust the alternator enough to take up the slack.

If you want to “skip” the ac, go buy a 2001 DX alternator belt. That model didn’t have AC so the belt is shorter.

i have the right belt for the alternator/AC. I tried the non AC belt but it was too long. The clutch on the AC compressor spins, but it sounds like it's scraping. It also wiggles from side to side; it's definitely not tight. I'm pretty sure it's the clutch that's the issue.

This is the most common and cheapest way to bypass a failed compressor.

What belt # did they try to give you?