I have never had the system recharged in 10 years. With this said;

The ac works fine (Very Cold) for about 3-5 minutes then the vents go warm for about 3-5 minutes. I have narrowed this down to the compressor clutch. Some times when it is not working, I hit the clutch faceplate with a PVC pipe, the clutch engages and the cold comes back. So I need to adjust the clutch. Am I on track with the diagnosis?

I have read on here that there is a shim that can be removed to adjust it. I have the triangle faceplate compressor. Is it as simple as removing the center bolt, removing the faceplate, and removing a shim? Do I need to remove the belt to do this? Will the whole pulley come off if I remove the bolt? Can this be done from under the car, is there room?

Thanks in advance for you're replies

 

Yeah, it's as simple as just pulling the bolt, then the plate, then removing the shim. Leave the belt be.

If anything else falls apart, it needed to be replaced anyway.

Steve

 

Thanks Steve

I was hoping you would reply, do you think my diagnosis is correct? The clutch does not seem to be slipping, just not engaging sometimes

 

Most likely.

Steve

 

This exact thing happened to me at the end of last summer, I didn't get it fixed, because there was like a week left of warm weather. This year it doesn't even cycle, just warm air through the vents. When I look under the hood, I can see the clutch not spinning, when I have the air turned to max a/c. Is this a shim problem as well, and can it be adjusted like stated above or is it not engaging because I am low on refrigerent.

 

Low charge.

 

Possibly, but you need to do some diagnostic work before making that diagnosis.

Any number of things can cause that symptom, low charge being only one of them.

First step is to MEASURE the system's static pressure with a gauge and verify that you have more than 50 psi of static pressure. If not, then the charge is low. If so, you have either an electrical or mechanical fault.


Steve