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Okay, I already posted a thread, but this one is more to the point.

After making bad noises for a while, the timing belt was changed, did not solve issue.

Now, when driving the car for more than a couple of minutes, smoke comes off of the AC compressor... what is a likely cause of this? How can i fix it, or make the car drivable until i can get it fixed?

car is a 1996 civic LX

 
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Remove the belt from the AC compressor.

 
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thanks, that's sort of an obvious quick-fix. will i be able to get it off clean without affecting the other belts, or is this going to be more of a pain than it sounds?

 
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It's not exactly a fix.
It's a temporary thing so you can drive it.
Even then, if you don't care about AC at all, it could be considered permanent.
Cut the belt off and throw it away? Cutting it off is by far the quickest.

If you ever want AC again, now you will need to fix the original problem and put a belt on it. The price of a belt will be dirt cheap compared to fixing the AC.

Some cars were never equipped with AC. Removing the AC belt only disables the AC on that car. It sounded like your AC is already broken and probably wouldn't work if you wanted it to, so you may as well remove the belt so it is disabled....

If you are certain the AC is causing your complaint.
Did the pulley lock up or something and smoke the belt?

 
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Yeah I am not certain of anything at the moment. I'm a little busy with exams this time of year so i haven't had a chance to really examine the issue, just looked like that's where the smoke was coming from when i popped the hood.

The AC blew cold this summer, and the belt and pulley is turning (but who knows how long it'll keep turning before something gives.

Is it possible that it's a clutch bearing or something that is shot, and causing the pulley to heat up and smoking the rubber belt?

Thanks

 
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They will growl loudly for a while before they lock up the pulley. By that time the pulley may have a noticeable wobble while the engine is running too.

You better investigate thoroughly where the smoke is REALLY coming from before you go doing anything drastic.

The harmonic blalancer could have separated. That meant the crank pulley outermost section separated from the inner section and they slip. There is a rubber ring that held them together. When they go bad, it could end up something like this:

 
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So basically don't just get up under there and start cutting the ac belt off... how would you suggest that I narrow down my diagnosis?

 
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If I thought the crank pulley has separated, the fastest way I know to prove it without taking anything apart is to paint a line across the inner and outer sections.

Fire it up, shut it off. If the marks don't line up with each other now, something moved.
Once all the belts are off of it, it might fall apart like the earlier pic.

 
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Beautiful, Excellent info.

Now this is a stupid question but... What is the worst case scenario for driving the car with a separated harmonic balencer? Engine self-destruction?

 
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Maybe. The harmonic balancer is in place to dampen torsional vibration as the crankshaft spins. The crankshaft can crack or break without it. (I can't say that will happen, but that is why the part is there.)

Most people would get it checked out by the time it makes smoke and noise. Those are universal warning signs that even the majority of appliance users would surely worry about.

Even my GF will call me when her car makes unusual noises.....then hold the phone out toward the noise so I can hear it too LOL

 
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LOL yeah, the thing is, I did have it checked out, but at the time, the noise was intermittent, and the mechanic thought it was a timing belt tensioner.

I then drove the car 3 hours away from his shop before the noise started to come back, and now here I am far away trying to decide whether it's safe to drive it home as is, to get it taken care of properly back home, or too find a shop here to do the work... Some of this stuff i used to be able to do myself when i had access to the high-school auto shop. Of course that didn't really last after i graduated lol.

Thanks again
I'll do the paint stripe, and try to spin the a/c clutch and go from there.