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It works! And... it's 30 degrees outside. I couldn't be happier. Let me tell you what happened.
A while ago, I used one of those cans of refrigerant to "recharge" the system. Barely did anything, waste of money.
So, there's this guy on YouTube saying there's an easy way to fix your a/c compressor if the clutch isn't engaging (me). I don't even know how long it hasn't worked. You take the clutch plate off and remove a very small amount of metal, then put it back on. Here's a picture of what sits next to the compressor. In the second picture, you can see a very small washer. If you take too much metal off, replace it with a slightly thicker washer when reassembling and it will still work. Everything looks wet because I sprayed it. I used some 120 grit sandpaper to knock the rust off and it turned a lot more smoothly. The defrost (heat) turns on the compressor now! Technically the air should be drier, maybe fog up less? I don't know. Where's that video?
How do you hold the clutch plate in place while you're loosening it? Duh! PS: removing too much metal locks them together (gets hot in a hurry). Go too big on the washer and the plate will sit too far away, meaning it won't engage again.
Your refrigerant can also be so low the compressor won't start. I recommend going to a shop to have a full evacuation and recharge done if you can get it going.
Yes this repair does fix the A/C. Removing a metal shim around the compressor clutch shaft closes the air gap so that the magnetic plate engages the clutch again. Over time the air gap becomes to much for the clutch to engage. Dealer recommended to replace the A/C clutch $$$ but I took it to an A/C specialty shop and it was done in no time at $40. This was 5 years ago and still OK.
If you think a good mechanic is expensive, try hiring a bad one
Joined: Dec 2011
Posts: 32,017
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From: Midwest. Aiming about mid-chest
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Re: I fixed my a/c compressor... in winter
Originally Posted by BrotatoChip
You can easily check the gap yourself to ensure it is within the service range.
The feeler method in the image is for new part setup (both surfaces are perfectly flat), but as shown it doesn't work good on an old clutch that has a lot of wear.
Pics of wear, probably 200k miles on this AC clutch set:
Yeah I suppose you could do that. I wasn't sure what function it served. I happened to have a similar size washer that I just stacked on top of the one already there and noticed that using a single larger washer didn't allow it to spin as freely. You can very clearly see where the washer is seated between the plate and the bearing. The orange part is some kind of rubber.
