Anyone know anything about an A/C compressor and clutch?

[instangator]

I have a 2001 Mustang GT with about 85K miles. What I'm assuming is the A/C clutch or compressor has been making a squeeling/rattling/ and otherwise disturbing noise for a while. It wasn't too bad at first and only occurred when the air/heat was on. Now it has gotten worse and squeels until the car warms up regardless of whether the ac/heat is on, and the sound gets worse when the ac/heat is on.
I was going to just change the compressor and clutch assembly, but wanted to know if they was any way to diagnose the problem before shelling out $200to find out it was something else. Any suggestions?

 

[slvr00gt]

Are you sure this is not the accessory belt or bad belt tensioner?

 

[instangator]

I'm pretty sure it is the ac as the noise gets noticeably worse when the ac/heat is on.

 

[slvr00gt]

With bad belt/tensioner the noise might get worse as you turn on AC: it puts the stress on the belt

hey, just something else for you to check. Belt is cheap

 

[instangator]

I replaced the serpentine belt fairly recently- apprx. 15K miles ago. Would the noise vary if it was a belt/tensioner, or would it remain fairly consistent because sometimes the noise is ridiculously loud while other times it is just noisy?

 

[Dragstr05]

I replaced the serpentine belt fairly recently- apprx. 15K miles ago. Would the noise vary if it was a belt/tensioner, or would it remain fairly consistent because sometimes the noise is ridiculously loud while other times it is just noisy?

IF it was the belt, the noise will change with load. Easiest thing to help identify it its the belt is spray a little brake clean on the belt while its running; if the noise goes away for a second or two, you have a belt problem. Pull on the belt as well with the engine off, if it feels REALLY lose or not as tight as it should be, could have a tensioner issue.

Also wouldnt hurt to pull the belt off for a minute with the engine running (dont run it long!) just to verify that the noise is coming from an accessory.

 

[forum155pl]

you can also put a long breaker bar on the tentioner and put a little pressure on the belt and rev it up and see if it helps the squeek...

 

[jstreet0204]

You can change the clutch assembly without removing the compressor. It was about $50 from autozone. I replaced mine about three years ago and have no issues since.

 

[instangator]

jstreet,
That is what I was thinking about trying out first. Were your symptoms the same as mine? Also, how difficult is to change just the clutch?

 

[jstreet0204]

jstreet,
That is what I was thinking about trying out first. Were your symptoms the same as mine? Also, how difficult is to change just the clutch?

My symptoms sounded like yours the squeeling eventually turned into a metal on metal noise when the bearings finally gave out. It wasn't that hard to change. Search in this forum. A while back I posted the instructions from alldata with images.