A/C Parts Replaced: New Noise from Pulley

Just had almost the entire A/C system replaced yesterday (new compressor, hoses, accumulator, etc.) and after a few minutes driving it, I noticed that at a stop, I could hear something unusual under the hood. When I got home, I opened the hood and let it idle.........sure enough the A/C compressor pulley was making noises kind of like mild rattling or possibly some sort of friction.

Should I not be worried and drive the car some more OR should the new A/C compressor/pulley be as quiet as before? Take it back to the shop?


Here's what happened:

I had a local shop do a test on my A/C system/compressor, because I finally figured out that leaks were coming from that area. Sure enough, the compressor had several leaks and a couple hoses were leaking freon pretty bad too. I had the shop replace everything with new parts and most of them appear to come from Ford. The shop does good work, so I don't mind supporting them and most of the time their prices are more than reasonable.

HISSIN50 said:

I'd take it back. You paid good money and it should be right. Furthermore, they would probably prefer that you do nothing to it because then it's only their work they have to worry about.

As I recall, the air gap on the clutch is adjustable. It could be an issue as simple as that needing to be tweaked.

Good luck.

Click to expand...

Thanks for the heads up on the adjustable clutch.

Oddly, I started the car this morning after my post and no noise at all. I drove around for 10 minutes or so and still no noise. I'll see how it goes and if the noise comes back, it'll go back to the shop Monday morning.

Thanks again.

A little under $1,200.00. I don't have the parts list at the moment, but it was rather long and matched what I'd researched. I got quotes from a couple other places and they were within about $50.

I ran the car a couple times and most of the time it is quiet. It seems that if I run the car and never turn on the A/C, no noises occur at all. Once in a while, the pulley area will make a slight squeak/grinding type noise once the A/C is switched off. When the A/C is on, all is quiet and normal.

The cold air comes on quickly and much colder than ever before. Reminds me of when the car was new.

I'm going to drive the car again today (not my daily driver mind you) and if the noise occurs again, I'll call the shop and take it to them to fix it.

This was definitely my leak problem. Not a single leak under my since getting it back from the shop.

Problem solved!

The air gap was too small. We demonstrated the sound on a compressor that had been pulled and it was the exact same sound. The shop fixed the problem with a shim kit (or something like that) and no more noises.

Thanks for the heads up on the adjustable air gap.

FYI: Wanted to post this for future reference for anyone who might have the same issue after a new A/C compressor install.