UPDATE-A/C parts destruction....ughhh

[Wayne Waldrep]

Well. That didn't work. About 2 months ago my AC compressor clutch let go. Was uneventful. Just stopped blowing cold and I knew something was up. So I searched and found an NOS Ford clutch. Super awesome....but not. Apparently some NOS parts should be used and those with rubber sections just might not be a good idea. This one only last a couple hundred miles. I shimmed it correctly. I even got an opinion from Mike for reference and reshimmed a touch different. So that was spot on. Got in the car last Friday to go to town which is a little over 20 miles. At about 10 miles I smelled something smoke. Not coincidentally the AC stopped blowing cold. Didn't make a sound though. Keep that in mind. So I kept going after I turned the AC off. No big deal. Got off the interstate and was almost to a 4way when things started vibrating. Then...vibrating worse. I pulled into a vacant parking lot and as I did, the whole car was vibrating. Shifter handle was buzzing in my hand. When I put the clutch in it screeched. Ah.... Smoked the throw out bearing maybe?
So I stopped and turned it off. Opened the hood. Smoke coming from the AC clutch and black goop oozing from it. Lovely. I unplugged the electrical connection right quick just in case. After a few minutes I knew I had to start it up and see what was happening. Then I saw the AC clutch had separated at the rubber. I didn't want to leave the car there because it's not a good place to be..... if you know what I mean. So I decided to see how far toward home I could get. The vibrating got worse the whole way. I just knew something was going to explode but it sorta didn't. Parked it with the hood up and got in my Honda and carried on.
Next day time to look at it. The clutch is in 2 pieces at the rubber connection. But the grooved AC pulley (with the bearing) is also in 2 pieces. The grooved pulley was just riding around on the flat surface of the electromagnet (field coil). The guts of the field coil were apparently what had melted and spewed the black goop around. Oh. The big bearing on the grooved pulley is still perfect so it didn't lock up. What a mess.

So here's the question. Given the info, which piece took out what? I have my idea but i want to hear yours. I do know that when the clutch came into two pieces, it shifted to one side and was rotating extremely out of round.

Extra..... Ordered new parts from LMR. They came in broken. The electrical connector on the coil was completely crushed and broken off. The state of this world, quality workmanship is never going to be the same again.

Pics....

New part.

 

[Mustang5L5]

I think it was the coil that started the ruckus. Thing looks like it saw some serious heat. I’m really surprised a fuse didn’t pop, which makes me wonder if the heat is due to friction?

Resistance of coil?

 

[Wayne Waldrep]

I think it was the coil that started the ruckus. Thing looks like it saw some serious heat. I’m really surprised a fuse didn’t pop, which makes me wonder if the heat is due to friction?

Resistance of coil?

Well...the coil got hot when the pulley broke and started riding around it. It melted the front of it.
I'm thinking the clutch let go first which is why the only thing that happened was the AC stopped blowing cold because it wasn't on. No vibrating at all then. When the clutch became shoved to one side due to centrifugal force, it started vibrating worse and worse till it broke the grooved pulley. I drove it all the way home with the grooved pulley in 2 pieces which means it was spinning around and around the coil.
That's just my thought. Sound legit?

 

[Mustang5L5]

First sign something was wrong was smell of smoke right? No vibration at that point?

 

[Wayne Waldrep]

First sign something was wrong was smell of smoke right? No vibration at that point?

Correct. And the AC just stopped being cold. Same as 2 months ago when the old clutch died.

 

[Mustang5L5]

So for ac to no longer function, the center hub portion needed to stop rotating.

Have you attempted to turn the compressor over by hand yet? Is it locked or does it turn freely?

 

[Wayne Waldrep]

So for ac to no longer function, the center hub portion needed to stop rotating.

Have you attempted to turn the compressor over by hand yet? Is it locked or does it turn freely?

Haven't tried that yet but i need to. But when the rubber part of the clutch let's go it's free wheeling at that point. That's what I've seen them do when they fail. Rubber lets go and the outer ring stops holding the inner which is what's turning the pump.
I'm assuming it was good until the rubber completely let go of the outer ring of the clutch and it shot off to one side and starting banging.

 

[manicmechanic007]

Generally it was the compressor that took out the clutch (in the first place)
When it gets hard to spin it melts the field coil after melting the rubber out of a few clutch hubs
Replace it all with New Ford or Motorcraft parts
Get a list of the parts you need and if i have them I might just send them to you

 

[Wayne Waldrep]

Generally it was the compressor that took out the clutch (in the first place)
When it gets hard to spin it melts the field coil after melting the rubber out of a few clutch hubs
Replace it all with New Ford or Motorcraft parts
Get a list of the parts you need and if i have them I might just send them to you

Thanks man. I'll do some more checking and see what's what.

 

[revhead347]

Stop wasting time, and get a new compressor, drier, and orifice tube. Always get a Denso if you can, but my second best choice is the O'Reilly brand one which is made by Four Seasons. They are totally decent as well. 20 years ago, I would stay with the original compressor no matter what it took, now the replacements aren't so bad.

Kurt

 

[Bullitt347]

Keep throwing money at it. You will eventually fix it.

 

[Wayne Waldrep]

Y'all can stop with the throwing money crap. I replaced the entire system less than 5 years ago. That includes pulling the dash and replacing EVAP as well. All components new.

And most here know i live on a shoestring budget. So all that money back then was hard to part with. I don't have resources the last few years because of family tragedy. Doing the best i can right now.
I posted this to get opinions on which part took out the other. Not to add stress and feel like i just posted on the Corral.

 

[90sickfox]

I think the compressor locked up first....the belt forcing the pulley caused the rubber to fail. The likely hood of two compressors failing in 5 years is kinda slim. I use Esther oil and r134a in old Ford compressors.

 

[Wayne Waldrep]

Got this old compressor out of storage. I do not trust the 3 front pieces (clutch assembly) to run daily. Or for a long trip even. But before I put the new LMR parts on, I decided to put these on and set them up properly and see what I have. I drove the car ten miles down the road with the A/C unplugged first. No grinding, smoking, squeaking. So I plugged in the A/C and just stood there and watched it with the A/C turned on of course. The compressor is not locked up. Drove back ten miles to the house with normal functioning and cold A/C. So the failure was, in fact, the 30 year old NOS clutch. The rubber just let go and the outside ring slung sideways. Lots of out-of-round spinning can do bad things.

Case closed. Thanks for the replies. Even the ones that chapped me temporarily....lol.

 

[Mustang5L5]

That sucks

I'm going to have to keep an eye on my NOS clutch then