Recently I moved from Seattle Area to Boston area. I decided to take the trip in my 1990 Max w/183000 mi. Just before I left, I noticed an odd noise coming from under the hood. I discovered that the air conditioner pulley was slightly rotating and there were sounds of metal on metal contact with occasional sparking. I turned the AC on and it performed just fine. So I left it on.... Now it appears that the pulley itself is wobbling, rotating off balance, causing my whole car to shake and robbing me of some power.

Is it safe to continue to operate my max w/o causing damage to the engine? Would it be safe to just remove the belt from the ac compressor?

N E help is much appreciated!

 

ummm...there are a couple things there that strike me as wrong on several levels...
1. "sounds of metal on metal contact"
2. "occasional sparking"

If it were me, I would not continue to drive it, AC on or off, until I got it looked at. A lot of times a problem will escalate the longer you leave it, and then end up breaking something else as well- like compressor clutch seize, belt breakage, etc...(or worse) but then, that's just me..

 

i would take that fan belt off until you have the compressor looked at.