1968-Present E-Series Van/Cutaway/Chassis Econolines. E150, E250, E350, E450 and E550

How to replace a AC clutch pully bearing.

Thread Tools
 
Search this Thread
 
  #1  
Old 12-21-2015, 10:53 PM
annaleigh's Avatar
annaleigh
annaleigh is offline
Logistics Pro
Thread Starter
Join Date: Oct 2014
Posts: 3,672
Received 165 Likes on 152 Posts
How to replace a AC clutch pully bearing.

This is on a 1988 e150 with a 302 engine and factory installed AC.
The AC compressor is locked up and the clutch coil is bad, I didn't want to replace it at this time.
They make a AC bypass pulley that sells for $45 but a new bearing is only $22.
Here is how you replace the AC clutch pulley bearing.
There is a nut holding the clutch plate on. Mine was a 1/2 I read others may be a10 or 11 mm. Normally you will need a tool to hold the clutch to keep it from turning. My compressor was locked up so I didn't need the tool.

Once you get the nut loose, look for a lock washer. Mine was on the shaft.



Next take a screwdriver and lightly pry around the edges of the clutch being careful not to bend it. It should come off easy, if not there is a tool for that.. You don't want to bend it.. Mine came off without the tool.



Here is what it looks like with the clutch off, again dont loose the lock washer. The little flange sticking out on this clutch pulley is a dust cover you will see later. It comes out after the bearing is out. Not all have one.



Now to get the pulley with the bad bearing off, you have to remove a outer snap ring. Once the snap ring is off the pulley should slide right off. If not you can take a hammer and tap on the back side of the pulley as you pull forward on it. You can see the snap ring locks at the bottom. I used a set of 90degree snap ring pliers to remove it.



Some pulleys have little bent tabs holding the bearing in place. Here you see this one had a solid ring bent down around the bearing. You can see where I bent it up in one place to expose the outer bearing race



Use a screwdriver or other tool to go around the bearing race and bend the ring up.


Now take a socket and place it on the inner bearing race from the front side and drive the bearing out. Be careful how you support the pulley from underneath so as not to bend it when removing the bearing.



Now you can see how the dust cover came out and goes back in.



next clean up the area inside the pulley where the bearing goes. I used a little PB blaster then started the new bearing into the pulley and used the old bearing race to drive it in place and seat it. Be sure and put the dust cover in first.



Once the bearing was seated all the way down in the pulley, I used a hammer and the back side of a chisel to tap the retention ring tab back down on the bearing.



Here it is finished



I should have done this before installing the bearing but forgot. I used BP blaster and a wire brush to clean the grooves in the pulley then sprayed it off with brake cleaner.



Once clean you just slide the pulley with the new bearing back on the compressor and reinstall the retention snap ring. Look good and make sure it is seated in the groove on the hub.



Now when we removed the clutch there were some washer like shims. Be sure you didn't loose any as they need to go back inside the clutch hub along with the key stock. I found it easier to put the key stock in the clutch rather then try and place it on the compressor shaft. Once the keyis in place and the shims are in place, the clutch is ready to go bock on the compressor shaft.


Install the lock washer and nut and tighten the clutch back down. Then spin the pulley to make sure nothing is rubbing.

here it is back together with the new belt and belt tensioner
<a href="http://s472.photobucket.com/user/Annaleigh_123/media/WP_20151221_16_43_39_Pro.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img src="http://i472.photobucket.com/albums/rr88/Annaleigh_123/WP_20151221_16_43_39_Pro.jpg" border="0" alt=" photo WP_20151221_16_43_39_Pro.jpg"/></a>
<a href="http://s472.photobucket.com/user/Annaleigh_123/media/WP_20151221_16_44_01_Pro.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img src="http://i472.photobucket.com/albums/rr88/Annaleigh_123/WP_20151221_16_44_01_Pro.jpg" border="0" alt=" photo WP_20151221_16_44_01_Pro.jpg"/></a>



Some notes here. If you were going to replace the clutch magnet coil. After you remove the the C-clip holding the pulley on, and remove the pulley, there is another C-clip behind that that holds the clutch coil magnet in place. IT would be very difficult to do on this van while the compressor is mounted on the engine unless you had a good set of 90degree c-clip pliers that were long enough to reach back inside to the clip. once all back together you need to use a feeler gauge to set the gap between the clutch plate and clutch pulley, i don't know the specs but you would either add or remove one of the shim washers to obtain the clearance you need.
If you have a old clutch that is slipping,sometimes you can remove the clutch plate and remove one of the shims and get a bit more use out of it..


I did not rremove the clutch coil magnet because it was burnt up and I will be replacing the whole compressor in the spring.

Because the coil was burnt up and wires sticking out, I had to unwrap the wire from around the coil and remove it. There is allot of it!



If you do need a tool to hold the clutch plate when removing the bolt, here is one type



If you have to use a puller to remove the clutch plate from the compressor shaft, here is the tool for that. If I had needed it, I wold have had to remove the fan shroud to have enough room to use it.


 
  #2  
Old 12-21-2015, 11:41 PM
annaleigh's Avatar
annaleigh
annaleigh is offline
Logistics Pro
Thread Starter
Join Date: Oct 2014
Posts: 3,672
Received 165 Likes on 152 Posts
Another important note is about the bearings. I had originally ordered a cheap clutch assembly from advance with a 20% off coupon making it as cheap as the bypass pulley. I thought It would make the job easier. Just pull the old one off and replace with the new one. But as parts places go,,, theirs didn't fit.. The clutch assembly was correct but it had the wrong bearing in it and would not seat in place on the compressor shaft enough to get the C-clip retainer on.
Advance only listed one clutch assembly.

NAPA listed 3 but didn't know what bearing was inside either of them..

Same thing with Orileys but they did have two different bearings listed for my 88 e150. They also had two different clutches listed but couldn't determine which bearing was in either one. SO I ordered both bearings and returned the unneeded one when i was done..
<a href="http://s472.photobucket.com/user/Annaleigh_123/media/WP_20151221_12_21_46_Pro.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img src="http://i472.photobucket.com/albums/rr88/Annaleigh_123/WP_20151221_12_21_46_Pro.jpg" border="0" alt=" photo WP_20151221_12_21_46_Pro.jpg"/></a>

Mine required the 5000-kff. The clutch assembly from Advance had the 5001-kff bearing in it. An easy to tell which one you need is notice the 5000-kff has a wider inner race that sticks above the outer race while the 5001-kff is even..
If in doubt, look at the part number on your old bearing and do a cross reference on it for one of those 2 bearing numbers.. I am not sure what years these bearings apply to but they seem to be quite common..
 
Related Topics
Thread
Thread Starter
Forum
Replies
Last Post
epdukes13
1987 - 1996 F150 & Larger F-Series Trucks
5
05-25-2014 08:47 PM
F250saleen
Cooling, Heating, Ventilation & A/C
3
12-26-2009 04:54 PM
gmcco
Cooling, Heating, Ventilation & A/C
3
04-09-2009 12:50 PM
Canadian98f1504x4
1997 - 2003 F150
3
08-29-2007 08:13 PM
mike L
General Automotive Discussion
6
07-15-2006 09:40 PM



Quick Reply: How to replace a AC clutch pully bearing.



All times are GMT -5. The time now is 03:45 PM.