I found my a/c compressor faceplate broken off and lying against the degas bottle. It appears to have sheared at the shaft. Along with it came out a steel wool type of ring/washer.

on the engine-


the broken piece-


What does this piece do? I'm thinking I need to drain the freon to replace the whole compressor, yes?

 

That's your ac clutch. Usually, you can replace the whole clutch from the piece you have there, to the pulley. But your shaft is broken, and you are gonna have to change the whole compressor.

 

That is the clutch that engages the compressor to pump the freon. It looks like it wrung off the shaft which means it came apart. you will definitely have to remove the freon. You are supposed to technically flush the system, replace the orifice tube, dryer, and vacuum down b4 recharge. I think there is an updated orifice tube that works better than the stock one. Seems like there is a thread on here from someone about that.

 

ok, thanks for the feedback.

 

Replacing the orifice and the accumulator and flushing the system probably isnt necessary in your situation. Yes u need to do these steps if your compressor has catastrophic internal failure, such as piston knock or what have ya. Beins the clutch and the shaft broke off you should be ok, with just replacing your compressor, that is if the a/c worked good before all of this, and if there arent any more problems with the compressor. Try to turn the compressor over if u can after u take the pulley off. It may be locked up. A locked up compressor also falls under the category of catastrophic failre... Hope this helps...

 

Maybe i am wrong, but i would consider the main shaft and seal internal to the compressor a major failure. Every1 I have ever seen do that has lost the front bearing of the compressor upon disassembly. I am not sure there will be anything left to turn if the pulley is removed considering the shaft is broke off and there is a snout that the bearing for the pulley rides on that will make near impossible to grab anything that might be left recessed in the hole.

I'd hate to spend the money to put on a new compressor without flushing it and ruining it b/c of metal or some other non-condesible in the system.

 

How can a broken shaft contaminate the a/c system. For the a/c system to be contaminated part numbers have to pumped into the system. Part numbers cannot be pumped into the system if debris has not reached the piston. In this case I do not see how this could have happened beins the damage has not gotten internal to the compressor. There will still be a stub shaft in the compressor from where it had broke keeping dirt and other debris out if the compressor. Dirt is not as big of a deal to an A/C system as metallic parts. Does that make sense? Anyway, it wouldnt be a bad idea to flush the system but how do you flush the a/c system? Take the lines loose and blow compressed air through them? This technique works somewhat. to do the job right you need to have an A/C flushing machine. How many ppl have access to this? I have had to replace brand new compressors because they were "flushed" with compressed air. I then flushed the system with a machine and found alot more stuff in the system. My advice would be to take the vehicle to a dealer you can trust and have them check into it. It will be costly to have the system flushed properly new orifice tube and a new accumulator, but may be necessary. If the front bearing of the compressor is destroyed then you have a whole new ball game. The pulley will need to be removed and then go from there.

 

How did part #'s get in a/c system? lol

I give up. I have done about 10 of those and 9 of them had seized the front bearing. 1 was damaged by jackleg trying to remove shim from clutch. Metal had already been pumped into system b4 it sheared the shaft. I still stand by first two posts but any further discussion is just a waste of time. Will look like we are in a pissing match and I don't mean to do that. Its hard to know why it failed without the ability to take it apart. I am only trying to be helpful from what I have seen in a very large fleet of fords.

Definitely find a reputable mechanic with an a/c license and experience & warranty on repairs. Ask questions b4 allowing him to work on anything. Walk away if not happy with answers or it feels like he is blowing u off or bs'ing u. If he does it in question phase, he will definitely screw u during repair phase. Dealers can be good but some don't always have experienced personnel performing diagnostics/repairs. Their prices are high though.

 

BTW, that was good description on flushing the system. There are also flush guns available that are pressurized with compressed air that do a very good job and are reasonably priced. They still use the same a/c flush cleaner though as the large machines.

I have seen people "flush" hydraulic lines with compressed air like u described following a pump failure with about the same results.

 

Thank you. U said everything i was thinking in your last two posts! LOL. Yea it really needs to be dissassembled to really know for sure...