Hello all and I hope you are able to help me out I am at a stand still on this.

My truck was making a terrible noise from the belt. When I looked at it I discovered the ac compressor pulley to be pretty loose (if i take my fingers and pull on it, I am able to move the pulley out some away from the front of the engine a 1/4 in or so).

My question is how do you tighten up the pulley? Another question is is my clutch or compressor just gone bad and this is what is causing the pulley to be loose in the first place?

I have went out and got the ac compressor clutch removal and installation tool set with no instructions so it isn't real clear to me. The problem I'm having is on the front of the compressor in front of the pulley theres a plate on front with 3 bolts in it along with a small bolt in the center of the plate and when tightened the 3 bolts just turn, as well as the one in the center. I thought in looking at the clutch holding tool, that I could simply remove the 3 bolts that are in the triangular pattern from the plate and put the holder tool on and tighten away. However the 3 bolts on the plate just turn as well when I try this.

If anyone out there could help me out I would appreciate it! I have work on Monday and can't drive the truck this way because I think it's unsafe and is really noisy and seems to be putting a load on the motor!

Dan

 

The plate is the thing that gets pulled into the clutch by the magnet. It is splined to the compressor shaft and fastened with that little bolt in the center. If you can stabilize the plate, say with a screwdriver wedged between a couple of those 3 outer bolts, you can tighten or loosen the center bolt on the shaft. If you remove the center bolt, you should be able to pull the plate off the shaft by hand, allowing you to see the clutch assembly.

The AC clutch assembly, with the pulley, is pressed onto the snout of the compressor housing. If the pulley is moving around as you described, it sounds like the clutch assembly has come off of the housing somehow, or its bearing got really bad. It does not take an enormous effort to press on or off, but you do need to get at it from certain positions. Most likely you need to remove it from the car in order to use that install/removal tool. If it is loose already, you want to remove the fan belt first before removing the front plate to get at the clutch, that little bolt may be the only thing that's preventing it from being yanked off by the belt.

 

xlt4wd90 thanks for replying...Turns out that that plate isn't supposed to be loose. Not only was that broken, but the pulley broke into two pieces as well. And what was left of the clutch fused itself to the ac compressor shaft! Had to put a bypass pulley on for now, till I get the $$ to replace it! Thanks again for your help!!