I few weeks ago I posted some questions about an A/C clutch that had broken. I was able to get a used compressor from someone here, and I transfered the clutch plate (the rest of the compressor seemed fine). It was working fine, engaged and A/C was working. But then while on a trip this weekend, I started to notice a grinding/rubbing sound, but the noise would happen when both engaged and disengaged (although would sometimes stop when engaged), so it didn't make sense that it would be the clutch plate and I though it might be a bearing in the A/C, alt, pump, etc. Then before I got home, this new (used) clutch plate also broke a couple rivits just like the previous one did.

I am sure I used the correct spacers in the clutch plate, the A/C worked fine when engaged, and the pulley spins freely. With the clutch plate off, everything is just fine (other than no A/C), no noise Anyone have any ideas? I didn't think the compressor is bad since it seemed to work fine when the clutch was engaged, but could it be comprimised somehow that it causing too much stress on the clutch plate and caousing it to break?

Thanks.

 

get a new/refurbished one. i went out of town this past weekend w/ teh same noise in my compressor (5.5 hr trip) i was lucky as hell that the compressor welded/seized up when i got to my final destination. my belt popped and the compressor pulley wouldnt move. bought a new one from autozone for $286 (suppose to be $317, but since the other autozone told me the one down the road had it, and they didnt) they gave me a 10% discount. its installed and im planning to drop it off to my mechanic so he can vaccuum and put new freon in it

 

alright, so my a/c stopped working and the last week has been hott up here... yes it gets warm up here lol

so what would you recommend i start with to look at before i take it to my mechanic? any tips for checking it yourself?

 

follow that video to change the compressor, just have the mechanic vaccuum and put more freon in it...

same for a 4/5th gen in removal and installation

 

I already have a used working compressor, I just need another clutch plate for it (since I took it off the used one and put it on my existing compressor, which then proceeded to break again) That I am hoping someone with a blown compressor can sell me. If I didn't already have the working used one, I would get a new refurb.

Although I don't understand how my existing compressor could be shot if is does work when engaged (and with no noticeable undue drag on the engine), it must be putting some kind of excessive tension on the clutch plate to break it twice.

Thanks for the video, that is most helpful!

 

you saying that the noise would occur both when the a/c is on and off...thats your bearing thats screwed up. mine was making that noise for all of two months plus. it finally seized up on me after my trip when i pulled up to my destination. no hate, but, a compressor w/ a screwed up clutch, isnt a 'working compressor'. while i do understand 'doing things to make something work....this can be a component, as experienced first hand that can leave you stranded...i didnt think mine would, i assumed my pulley would be good and i just wouldnt have a/c, but mine completely seized and i wouldnt have been able to get home, if it wasnt for buying another compressor. hence why i'm just telling you to get another one from the parts store so you wouldnt have to worry about being stranded. but gl on your search for another compressor

 

I though it was the bearing too, but the noise doesn't happen at all with the clutch plate entirely removed (i.e., the pulley free spinning with the belt.) The belt tension hasn't changed, so if it was the bearing, the noise should still be there?

I am thinking that maybe when the first (original) clutch plate broke, that it did damage the inner clutch plate such that it rubbed when the newly installed clutch plate was disengaged (and occasionally slipped when engaged, causing the noise less often heard when engaged), and eventually causing the second plate to break as well. Maybe I'm reaching here, but sounds plausible and nothing else seems to make sense.

Regarding the working used compressor I have, it does not have a screwed up clutch, it just doesn't have an outer clutch plate at all as I removed it to install on my existing compressor (rather than going through the hassle of replacing the entire compressor which I didn't think was necessary at the time). If I can get another clutch plate, then the used compressor would be whole and usable again, and I could replce my existing compressor with it. I understand that being used it will have a questionable life expectency itself, but there is no reason it shouldn't be usable.

Alternatively, I could leave the exisiting compressor installed, and swap out the clutch assembly and pulley from the used compressor (assuming I get another outer plate), and install a new bearing as I have seen in a tutorial here. Seems like the least amount of work since it can be done without removing and recharging the compressor. But this assumes there wouldn't be anything internal to the comressor that could be causing the clutch plates to break, which I can;t imagine there could be since it cools well and does not seem to drag the engine.

 

GL w/ it man...i just hate going through unnecessary work, but if you dont mind it, then by all means go for it. keep me updated on the outcome

 

You could check out www.car-part.com to see if any junkyards in the area have an A/C Compressor that you could pull the clutch from.

Speaking of pulling the clutch off the compressor...how'd you do it?!? The clutch fell off of my compressor and I want to replace it without having to swap out the whole thing. I bought a compressor from a local junkyard, but can't figure out how to get the clutch off. Any help you could offer would be greatly appreciated.

 

If you have to replace the outer clutch plate because it was damaged, chances are the inner one is also damaged. The rivets from the outer plate probably cut a whole bunch of groves into the inner. The inner plate need to fairly flat for you to be able to just slap an outer plate on. You also need to get the air gap right with the shim/washers on the bottom of the clutch plate. You don't want slip when coil is energized and you don't want drag when coil is off. If the inner clutch is groved, it is glazed, just like glazed brake rotors, you will experience brake fade. The a/c clutch face is no difference, the glazed inner face will work for a while but once it gets hot it will begin to slips, you will burn up the outer clutch plate. The noise you hear with the a/c on and with it off is because, the rivets are rubbing/grinding and the clutch is beginning to bind up. If you are lucky, your clutch just burns up, if you are not, the metal gets hot and weld itself together, which means the compressor won't be able to "cycle" on and off. The pressure builds up and compressor might lock up and you end up burning up a belt.

 

which is what exactly happened to me

 

Looks like its all the above. The 2nd clutch plate did get burned up and the inner plate is glazed. And it is now starting to make the noise without the plate on too, so I checked the pulley and there is some play in it, so it looks like the bearings are bad too. Whether the bearings actually went first causing a wobble and rubbing the plates, or whether the rubbing plates damaged the bearing, who knows. Luckily I can still spin the clutch rod fairly easily, so the compressor isn't siezed, and it was working fine right up to the time the clutch plate broke so should be OK. But looks like I'll need to replace the bearing, pulley/inner clutch, and outer clutch plate.

PadawanKnight, this thread details how to replace the clutch, bearing and pully.

http://forums.maxima.org/4657026-post50.html

 

Yeah. I tried that. The clutch won't just pull right off of the pulley. I rented the only clutch puller tool in town and it wouldn't attach to the clutch itself.

Anyone have any other ideas what I could try? I'm willing to spend a little bit of money if I need to. Oh, and I don't have a welder to make my own tool.

 

I got it off by tapping two wood wedges between the plates on either side.

 

Does anyone know if the AC compressor on the 5th gen (particularly the 2000) is the same as used on other Nissans? I'm coming up with a goose egg trying to find an old blown one from a maxima.

 

I'm debating whether to let the stealership install a new A/C compressor due to mine making noise (only when engaged)! They'll discharge, evacuate, remove old compressor, and install a new OEM compressor, and charge with oil and freon at a hefty $960 and a 2 year warranty....I'll have to check around and maybe have someone evacuate my system, so I can install a new compressor and let someone vacuum down my system and service it for less than half that but no 2 year warranty.... need to check and evaluate my opinions