The fun begins…AC pulley bearing issue

[Gary]

So, picked up the new daily driver yesterday (1998 Dodge Ram 5.2) and it had a nice squeal to it coming from under the hood. Today, I pulled the belt off and what do ya know, the belt is in great shape. Spun all the pulleys by hand and when I spun the AC pulley, I could hear it dragging. Put the belt back on the pulleys and turn the truck on, reaffirm it’s the AC comp pulley making the racket. Now, the AC works and is ice cold in this truck so it would be a waste to evacuate the system and replace the compressor. I know the compressor itself is fine because the pulley makes noise even when the compressor clutch is not magnetized thus the compressor is not engaged and it still makes the noise. Is it possible to just replace the bearing inside the pulley?

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[college man]

see if this helps.

[Gary]

Thank you collegeman, that was an excellent video. Upon pulling it apart, I have determined it is best to replace the coil and clutch plate/drum as well. Thanks for your help!

[Author]

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