Hey all,

Ive been having a grinding noise coming from my A/C compressot and it makes noise ONLY sometimes. Ive done a search on this and found some value imformation but still have some questions. When the clutch is engaged (AC on) the pully on the compressor wobbles like its off balance. I mean its not a horrible wobble to the point that it looks like its gonna fall off any second but it looks like its not a good thing to have long term.
Is it all internals that causes to shake when the AC is on? Ive read that if it makes noise, that it may be low on oil but do u think add oil will stop the wobbling then the clutch enagages? Again, it wobbles only when the AC is on. I went up the car the other day and tried pushing the pully itself and it didnt move so im pretty sure its a bad bearing (or somthing internal). Also can someone explain to me why it would wobble when the AC is on? I know i said its probably internal but can you explain it more in detail?

I plan on taking a trip down to VA beach in May and was wondering if I should get this fixed before I go. Is it a SERIOUS problem? I mean its been making this noise since last summer and I have recently changed the belts as I thought that the belts were the problem.

Kind Regards,
Kelvin

 

Maybe the bearing is going bad. If it is it may start to smoke and eventually seize.

I'd remove the belt from the pulley and turn by hand to see how smooth it is.