ac compressor clutch stuck

so i'm out wheeling in a lifted 99 xj and i smell burning. check under the hood and the compressor pulley is smoking. when looking at it idle, the compressor pulley has trouble spinning, and sometimes wont at all. when i actually turned the ac on (wasn't on all day today being as its winter in jersey) it just squealed and sounded worse. Now what can i do to temp fix this? i don't have the money to get a new compressor and i don't think there's any way to re route a shorter belt so i'm thinking an ac eliminator so does any one know of a cheap one that'll work or any other solutions? i just dropped 130 on the tow back to my house so the cheaper the better. i have basic mechanic skills but no experience with ac. also, what does into removing the compressor and plugging the lines that ran to it? cause i'm gonna get it re built, just in the summer when i need it and have the money.

I have the same problem but not quite as bad...I will be saving up for a new compressor soon.

There is a couple of threads around here that may help, lemme go off and find them.

Here yah go:
http://www.naxja.org/forum/showthread.php?t=915800&highlight=compressor

arg. can't find my original good instructions on how to lube the clutch on the compressor. ARG.

thanks

its looking like i actually burnt up the compressor by driving it as far as i did with the clutch stuck. there are black burn marks on the compressor by the pulley and metal shavings kept coming out of it.

yeah...metal shavings and a burnt smell are NEVER good unless you are lighting a cuban. I would advise the replacement of the compressor ASAP or delete the a/c all together. There are ways to replace the compressor with a delete pulley I believe.

i've been looking and it looks like i can modify the ac delete pulley from dorman products for the older year cherokees. anyone know how?

Sure it is cold out now and you would not have had the AC on, but I would be willing to bet you had your defroster on when you smelled the clutch burning. The compressor clutch is energized when the defroser is on. If you energize the AC clutch with a locked up compressor, the symptom is exactly as you describe. I know this from experience with my 2000 XJ. The compressor pully free-wheels when the clutch is off. If the bearing is binding, it will not cause the clutch surfaces to rub and thow metal, it will just be noisy. The bearing is sealed. You can't lube it and fix anything.

The failure mode is the clutch gets very hot, not from an electrical short, but from the heat of the energized clutch plates slipping. This heat melts the inuslation on the wire inside the coil. That causes the windings to short together or to the case of the clutch. This is often followed by a blown fuse.

If you want to drive it, turn off the defroster and you should be OK. Better yet, open the power distribution box and remove the 25 Amp fuse for the clutch so it can't be truned on.

Don't waste your money on a rebuilt compressor or replacing the clutch alone. Go to one of the discout Jeep parts sources which have been covered here and buy a new compressor which includes the clutch. I bought mine new at jeepsareus.com for $50 more than the clutch alone, which I had already wasted my money buying. Leave all the connections on the compressor until you have a new compressor in hand. You can move the old one to the side (hoses still connected) and bolt the new one in place. Then bleed off the pressure and swap the lines over quickly, and you should not get any moisture in the system.

Be careful when you unscrew the 4 bolts that hold the compressor to the mounting bracket. The bracket is aluminum and mine had a real bad case of dissimilar metal corrosion. I broke one bolt getting it out and had to do a helicoil repair.

you don't need to get a new compressor at all. I had a similar issue in that my clutch bearing was shot. All you need to do is replace the compressor pulley assembly. It takes about 10 min. to do it with a pulley puller. I went to a junkyard and pulled a pulley off there, cost $5. Works great.

259:
I think you need to read the symptoms a little closer. The OP saw smoke and metal leaving the clutch. The noise got worse when it is engaged. When engaged, the bearing you speak of is not turning. It only turns when the pully is free-wheeling. Although a bad bearing can cause the pully to wobble, the bearing will not cause the metal shavings to be thrown from the clutch face or the clutch to run hot and smoke. Those symptoms are caused by friction on the slipping clutch face. The OP said that now his compressor appears to be bad, speculating that it was caused by a bad clutch. I think the reverse is true and a binding compressor caused the clutch to become damaged when the defroster was on. You got lucky with your five buck fix.

FF19:
You need to find the yellow fuse in the power distribution box for the AC clutch. Pull the clutch fuse and start it up. If you have no squeal, you can wait till summer. If you do, you either have a bad bearing as 259 suggests, or the heat has warped the clutch and it is dragging.

if his compressor itself is still working and the clutch is bad, all he needs to do is replace the pulley clutch assembly like I suggested. if his compressor is bad, then obviously he needs a new compressor.

thanks guys, i'm gonna work on it after i get done work. i'll let you know the veridct