A/C compressor clutch assembly bearing replacement

So ive been searching for the last two days how to replace the clutch assembly bearing on my a/c compressor. I have a 99 4.0 and after a long roadtrip with the a/c on, the next morning a nasty noise that sounds like a howler monkey started under the hood. I was 99% sure it was a bearing on one of the pulleys because it just sounded like a dry bearing and when I looked/listened under the hood it was coming right from the a/c compressor.

I only found a few posts on here of people saying they replaced the bearing but they were all "oh yeah its easy all you need are these tools and pop the old bearing out and new one in." Of course this is never as easy as described and doesnt help anyone actually trying to fix a regular vehicle.

So tonight I got around to tearing things apart to see what was wrong. I was at the auto parts store so I grabbed what ended up being the wrong bearing, hopefully they will have the right one tomorrow. As usual I came here to , searched out the correct part number, the auto parts store wasnt able to look up that number, but found their own, gave me the part and it was wrong. WTF does this always happen? We dont have any parts stores that are actually worthwile here in WI yet people on forums get pissed at me when I buy parts online instead of at the local guy.

First thing I did was pull the serpentine belt and start'er up to make sure it wasnt something inside the engine making the noise, thankfully I was right! So I went ahead pulling the compressor. I wasnt able to remove just the clutch assembly so I had to pull the whole compressor out of the vehicle. This ended up fine because the bearing is a nightmare to get out, in fact I still havent gotten the outer bearing race out of the clutch assembly. I was hoping to replace only the bearing but I may have to replace the clutch assembly.

This isnt a write up on how to replace your compressor btw, just the bearing on the clutch assembly, the way I had to do it. Removing the compressor requires doing illegal things like releasing the refrigerant into the atmosphere and I dont condone and didnt do this... It does however have only one electrical connection, one bolt that holds the coolant lines on and 4 bolts that hold the compressor to the vehicle. So undo those things, loosen and remove the accessory belt and voila you have removed your a/c compressor.

Here is the info about my a/c compressor


Here is where I noticed the problem, look at the difference in the gap in the two pics. The outer pulley that the belt rides on had a pretty massive amount of play.



Since I had the compressor all the way out I figured I would take it apart and make sure the insides were intact. At this point I could feel that the shaft of the compressor was good and the clutch bearing truly was the culprit. I drained the oil and inspected the insides anyway.




Internals all looked great, I didnt take any pics of the "pistons" but these compressors are pretty sweet how they work!

The clutch is where the real damage is. First things first I ruined a couple parts in dissasembly, namely dust seals.

The real problems showed up here though, the "friction pads" were only contacting each other on 50% of the surface.


The field coil also looks slightly toasted. At this point I decided I need to replace the whole clutch assembly, I hope this isnt so expensive that I just need to get a whole new compressor.


To seperate the pulley and bearing assembly from the field coil I used a 1" socket. After I pounded these apart I noticed there was a c clip inside that wasnt even possible to get to. At this point I realized I dont know what the f im doing. Oh well on with the destruction.




The next pic makes the bearing not look so bad. At this point my diagnosis was correct, the bearing was missing multiple balls and was completely dry.


Heres the really bad news. I tried my darndest to get the bearing out of the clutch, it just wouldnt come. I tried a socket to draft it out, didnt work, ended up ruining the bearing and I still havent gotten the outer race of the bearing out of the clutch. I guess ill have to cut it out or just go to the parts store for a new clutch assembly.

how many miles on that compressor?

i always have trouble finding ac compressor parts! it seems tha parts stores always want to push the reman compressor?

If you go to http://www.sanden.com, you'll find the service manual for the compressor.

I'm a little confused. The clutch assembly can be removed without discharging or disassembling the compressor itself. Why did you?

You can see where the bearing is "staked" in. (the little dimples all around the outer race). If you really want to replace it, you'll need to grind the little bits of "overhang" off.

Truthfully, looks like you'll need a new one now. Finding just the seals, gaskets and other parts may be a problem. Have a look at Jeepair.com or Azkits.com for pricing.

The pulley and bearing assembly on a newer units are pressed together and spiked.

Grab a pulley off an older unit with the same model compressor. The bearing on those units is replaceable and are held in with a clip.

The Clutch plate assemblies have different centers IIRC. You can with patience, get that plate uniform again.

I thought I posted something on this about a year back when I did mine. Perhaps I forgot. <shrug>

Ron

Edit: Here it is: http://www.naxja.org/forum/showthread.php?t=1005811

Zuki-Ron, what junkyard did you get your parts from, Schmidts?

Yup.

Mike, I think you mentioned you removed your compressor for this. I think I have in the garage a bypass pulley assembly for an older XJ that might work on your machine while you get your compressor fixed. It bolts in place of the compressor.

Ron

Ron, I just left you a message. I did remove the compressor and if you had a bypass wheel that I could borrow temporarily that would be greatly appreciated. Please let me know if you do have it!

Mike D

So thanks to Zuki Ron ive got a temporary fix. For whatever reason the local junkyard isnt open on Sunday so I have to wait until tomorrow to go in search of my new to me parts! I ran to the hardware store to pick up 4 1.25" M8 coarse thread bolts and bolted it right up. The pulley on the delete bracket is smaller than the clutch pulley but it sits up a little higher so everything goes together just fine when you adjust the belt tension.

Thanks again Ron!

Great photos and description of the problem. Wondering how the solution will work and what it looks like. If the "staked" bearing is removed by grinding the dimples off, when the new bearing is drifted in, how does it get held in place? Couple of whacks with a punch to restake it?

So, can a clutch bearing replacement really be done? ATL-ATL, please keep us posted. The howler monkey under my hood only "starts his action" when warmed up and more than 2800rpm.

Checked Jeepair.com, looks like $239 for a whole compressor assembly. Cant find an Azkits.com site.

1990 XJ Limited.

Accidental double post.

grimah1w said:

Great photos and description of the problem. Wondering how the solution will work and what it looks like. If the "staked" bearing is removed by grinding the dimples off, when the new bearing is drifted in, how does it get held in place? Couple of whacks with a punch to restake it?

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If you get that far, I suspect that would work. If you follow Zuki-Ron's link in his earlier post, you see where he found a JY pulley from an earlier model that used a snapring to hold in the bearing.

Checked Jeepair.com, looks like $239 for a whole compressor assembly. Cant find an Azkits.com site.

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Oops! That's ACKITS.COM (not AZ). Although they're located in AZ.

Since I've gone this far I think I will try to replace the bearing even though my clutch assembly is toast(maybe), simply for the sake of knowing and helping fellow ers. I measured the bearings size and it matches one in another post I searched out. I'll probably pick one up (read-from the internet cause no parts store around me can get the bearing) just to see if it's possible and do a write up either way. Ultimately I will still do the Zuki Ron solution of fitting an earlier clutch assembly that is "rebuildable" on my later model compressor. The more I think about converting the stock comp to oba the more I think I'd rather do a complete Viair setup so I can retain my a/c.

Why did you take apart the compressor? This is a 1/2 hr job otherwise. You needed a clutch set. Now you need a compressor.

Mike, I'm glad that part works for you and gets you a Jeep again

That snap ring you showed me this morning holds the coil on the compressor nose.
You seem to be missing the snap ring for the pulley and the shims for the Clutch.

See Chapter 8 >> http://www.sanden.com/images/SD_Service_Guide_Rev.2.pdf

Ultimately, to refill the system you will have to take the Jeep to a Dealer, or find someone who will refill an auto system "on the side". Being as it is R134, I don't know the State regs on that. I do know that mixed in with all that refrigerant that was vented, there was compressor oil. That will need to be replaced before pumping the system down and refilling it.

Good Luck!!

<><><><><><>


For future reference to all that may come across this thread, you DO NOT have to open the refrigerant system or dissemble the compressor to replace the pulley!
<See service manual link above>

* Remove the belt.
* Remove the nut from the front of the Clutch assembly.
* Remove the Clutch assembly and save the spacers.
* Remove the snap ring which retains the pulley.
* Remove the pulley.

Ron

Ron, I figured out what that snap ring did as soon as you left. Also I do still have the shim, there was only one. Hopefully I can find a decent clutch assembly at Schmidts then all Ill need is to get the system recharged. Shouldnt be too big a deal...(fingers crossed)

All I can say is WOW. I can't believe the level of carnage I see before my eyes!!! All you had to do was take off the clutch plate, remove the snap ring and drive the pulley off with a hammer and screwdriver!!! The bearing will come out if you had used the right size socket, it comes out of the back of pulley, those little stamps break off really easily. There was no need to remove the compressor and definitely no reason to remove the refrigerant lines to do this repair. Also once the pulley is off all you need to do is remove one more snap ring and the coil will come right off, no big deal. Now from the looks off the clutch plate and magnetic coil I would say that you would be better off just getting a new compressor. I say this for several reasons:
1. By the time you do get the old race out and press the new one in you will have must likely bent the **** out the pulley anyway, they don't look it but they bent VERY easily
2. You'll have a hard time finding a new magnetic coil for that compressor (your is totally shot it's not supposed to look like that) and if you do it will either be a chinese cheap POS that you will need to solder your original connectors onto to hook it up or if you get it from the dealer they will totally rape you for it.
3. There's a very good change since you took the whole compressor apart that it will most likely start developing leaks after you put it back together unless your going to replace all the gaskets and seal as well.
4. One of those bearings/seal you hammered out looks like it's for the front cover on the compressor itself not the pulley so you'll need to replace that too and hope it doesn't leak from there as that is the place most compressor leak from when they go bad.
5. The cost of all the parts you will now need to make that compressor work like it should and be reliable would be so high that it would not even be worth it at this point.
6. You can get a new compressor on E-bay for around $150 and be done with it and it will come with a warrantee something your won't.
7. Having to do this job twice will wind up costing you double that in end if the old compressor turns out to not work for whatever reason.

Not trying to be mean but I think you'll be much happier i the end just getting a new compressor and calling it done. OH and next time please take it to a shop and have them take out the freon first next time that would really make me happy.

I know all this because I just replaced the bearing in my pulley about a month ago. It took about an hour. I just took out the 4 bolts and propped it up on a block of wood to work on it. Wasn't that bad, it would probably go faster the second time I had to figure all this stuff out on my own.

Atl-Atl said:

At this point I realized I dont know what the f im doing. Oh well on with the destruction.

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Now that is some refreshingly brutal honesty... I do find that breaking things and remembering what I broke and why it broke is the best way to learn how to properly do a job. I do prefer doing it on already-broken (or gutted, I see compressors at the junkyard with no clutch on them all the time for some strange reason...) units rather than the one in my vehicle however!

Sounds like your clutch, clutch/pulley bearing, and clutch electromagnet were all boogered up, at minimum I would throw a new clutch kit on it and I'd probably just replace the whole unit since that compressor input bearing and all the seals are toast too at this point.

Atl-Atl said:

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Zuki Ron Where did you get this pulley and if so do ya have a part number?

Thanks,
Sam

steelmen said:

Zuki Ron Where did you get this pulley and if so do ya have a part number?

Thanks,
Sam

Click to expand...

Your profile say '89. If that's it, the above pulley won't work. Mounting holes are different.