serpentine belt size
 

Hi all
I have a 1996 ranger 4.0 efi 4x4 my air conditioning compressor is starting to lock up i want to bypass until i have the cash to repair it. my question is what size serpentine belt do i need to bypass the compressor so i can drive the truck.
all help appreciated
steve

Well if the A/C clutch part is ok, just disconnect it's electrical connector, so the clutch won't try to engage & turn the compressor.

clutch assy
 

how do i find out if the clutch is ok? when the engine runs the clutch just tries to turn i see a lot of red powder must be rust around it. the belt whines and do i buy a belt for engine without ac will that fit.
steve

The air conditioner compressor clutch will engage off and on during an engine warm up cycle, so you could watch for this while it's warming up. Also, if its some what warm outside you could turn on the air conditioner and watch for the clutch to engage. The bearings in the large pulley on the compressor started to come apart on my 91 4.0 and made the engine vibrate and caused a screaching noise. I bypassed the compressor pulley with a belt for an engine without AC and it was all good after that. You should be able to do the same thing.

Well you said the A/C Compressor was starting to lock up, so with the A/C Off, if the clutch assy & the belt aren't making any noise, then the clutch pully bearing is ok, so just unplug the electrical connector to the clutch, so it won't try to run the A/C compressor.

If the clutch pully bearing is bad, it'll make the noise even if the A/C is off, so disconnecting the A/C clutch electrical connector won't do any good.

Maybe a belt for a 4.0L without A/C will work, but I really don't know, you'll just have to try one & see.

tie a string around the pulley's that you want to operate, take the string off and measure it.

It's not what I would do but you could try it.

The best course of action is to fix the AC pulley. Don't create another problem by not fixing a problem, it's just not beneficial in the long run.