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Hello
Recently, after driving for about 4 hours in heavy rain, I noticed that the AC compressor started to make a bad scraping noise when the AC is off, but NOT when the AC is on, and the cooling is still perfect. I searched about this and it seems like the air gap in the clutch might be too less. I loaned an AC repair kit from Autozone and tried to increase the air gap. Am I supposed to remove the nut on the center threaded shaft of the compressor (see picture below) to increase the gap? I think for gap reduction it doesn’t need to be removed but I’m not sure about it.
Secondly, there’s a shroud on the left face of the pulley, which doesn’t allow me to actually see the air gap. Is this how it normally is supposed to be? See below picture:
Thank you, appreciate the help!
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The corrosion on the clutch would make me suspect the problem isn’t mechanical, but rather mother nature taking over.
What about just putting some spray lube / ATF on the face of the clutch then run the AC? I’ve done this with success in the past.
+1 on the suggested remedy. WD-40 might be ok to see if the remedy will work, but it won’t last very long, as WD-40 isn’t a very powerful penetrant (it was actually designed as a coating product to prevent surface rust from forming on raw metal assemblies). A rust buster spray would be best, something like Zep Super Rust Breaker, and would actually help to remove the corrosion in addition to the lubrication factor.
+1 on Water Displacement formula 40 as a test remedy only. Zep has an extensive line of products, choosing the exact product for your needs can be daunting – fortunately cap269 has identified a winner already.
I actually recently replaced the compressor clutch on my 01 Century. Should the exact same R4 compressor. I found the specs for the air gap are .0025in-.0035in. Try the ATF or penetrating oil first to clean it then maybe check your gaps after that.
In order to use the puller/installer tool you do need to remove that nut. Unless you’re taking the whole clutch assembly off that is all you need to remove. It’s going to take some muscle though as these are machine pressed parts and not held on with any fasteners.
This video gives a solid breakdown of how it’s put together.
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