Howdy folks,

I've got a 2002 FX-4 with the 5.4L engine. I had the clutch pulley seize up on me last week which caused the serpentine belt to snap, but luckily I was close to home and was able to limp on back sans power steering or alternator but with a stop at a local pub to let the thing cool down for a while due to the water pump not turning. ;-)

Anyway, I finally got around to troubleshooting it last night. I removed the clutch disk and used a gear puller to get the pulley off, and it was clear the bearing were shot (in fact they were just rolling around). I went ahead and pulled the coil off while I was at it. After getting all that off I was happy to find that the compressor turns freely.

My question is this : My truck has about 105K on it. Should I just go ahead and buy a complete compressor/clutch assembly and replace it? What's the average life of a compressor? I'm looking at around $85 to $90 for a new clutch versus $250 plus for compressor and related replacement parts. I'm not factoring in buying a vacuum pump which I plan on buying anyway for one of my other cars, and I've got a good gauge set to refill the system...

Any thoughts?

 

I was in the same position as you a couple of weeks ago. With 100,000 I went ahead and replaced the compressor with a new Motorcraft unit from rock auto. It was around $200 shipped with no core charge about the same price as a reman with core charge.

 

Thanks for the reply wead. Did you replace anything else along with the compressor? I see they recommend a bunch of other stuff if the system is contaminated, but that's not the case here. Did you do a flush or anything before recharging the system? How's it holding up?

Ron

 

Compressor only and re-charged. The a/c was working fine but the bearing was starting to make some noise. Ford service manual say it's not necessary to replace the suction accumulator if their is no physical evidence of system contamination. Old compressor oil was clean and looked fine so I didn't flush or replace any other components. The compressor I purchased came with new o-rings. A/C is now as cool or cooler as it was prior to the repair. No problems in three weeks and 1500 miles.

 

Cool, thanks. Just picked up the clutch package for mine (coil, pulley, pressure plate). I'm going to roll the dice that my compressor is ok but I won't know until I get this installed. Looks like I might have to buy/rent or get a tool to get the coil and pulley on to the shaft though...

 

I have a 2004 FX4 that I'm installing an A/C clutch package on today. My actual comment was regarding replacing the entire compressor and that was that if you had decided to go with the compressor you would want to check to see if the warranty would have required you to replace the evaporator/accumulator, etc. but since you're going the clutch package only that won't be an issue. Good luck...

EDIT: 09/10/12 12:06PM

Turns out I should have listened to my gut and not the guys at the local AutoZone when they told me I wouldn't need a puller to get the pulley off the A/C compressor. Mine is stuck on there good. By the way, I didn't have to remove the skid plate or jack the truck up and take off the right front tire and splash guard. Once I removed the cooling fan/clutch and radiator shroud I could get to the compressor from the top and from the bottom easily enough to reach it.

So far I've removed the hub bolt and hub (along with the cooling fan/clutch, radiator shroud, serpentine belt and disconnected the battery just to be safe) and that's where I'm at. The pulley spins but I can hear the bad bearings when I do but the thing won't come off so now I have to wait for someone to get home with another car so I can go back to AutoZone to get the puller I should have picked up in the first place. The hardest part of the whole thing so far has been getting the radiator shroud and the fan out. I ended up taking the air intake bracket off rather than move the coolant hose. I didn't want to have a mess...

I'll grab my camera and take some pics for a step-by-step I'll post later....

 

formerflyboy, I feel your pain, lol! Luckily, I have the electric fan kit on my truck so I didn't have to mess with the whole shroud, cooling fan deal. I ended up removing my skid plate so I could have a little more room. And I also happened to have a puller in the tool box. That pulley is on pretty tight. When it came off, my bearings were just rolling around in there and the whole coil/pulley assembly was a rusted out mess. I snapped a picture with my phone and I think I transferred it to my computer somewhere. I'll see if I can find it.

Putting the thing back together is a piece of cake. There is a tool to help press the coil back in place but I just used a small block of wood placed on the center metal lip and took my time tapping it back in place with a small hammer. If you lay underneath the truck you can see when it's fully seated. The pulley should go right on, and there is a tool available to keep it from turning when you tighten up the bolt. I had a set of needle nose type pliers with the ends bent 90 degrees that I used. Take your best guess at a shim washer before you put the pulley on. I got lucky and when I measured the gap was within specs. Another thing I did while I was in there was replace the water pump. At 107K I figured it was due.

Good luck!

 

Getting the clutch assembly off wasn't too difficult although the puller didn't have much to grab onto. Had to use the puller to get the field coil off as well as it wouldn't budge.

Putting the new coil on was a pain. It wouldn't just slide into place. I ended up having to place the old coil over on top of the new and hitting the old with a hammer to get the new one to slide on far enough so that when the new clutch was put on I could get the thing on far enough to get the snap ring in place. After literally a half hour hitting the piece of 2x4 I was using (hitting the 2x4 which was placed on the clutch) I finally got it on far enough.

I noticed that while putting the clutch on if you didn't have it on perfectly straight you wouldn't be able to spin the pulley.

Once I had it all back together and the pulley spinning pretty freely I put my belt back on and got the cooling fan and shroud back in. THAT whole thing could have been easier if I had been willing to detach the coolant hose on the left (as you view front the front) but I didn't want the mess.

I started the truck and the thing was making the same noise as it was with the old clutch on so now I'm left thinking that the compressor itself is the problem. My gf thinks I should go have my mechanic look at it but I'm resistant. My opinion is that it HAS to be the compressor or the clutch. There is a chirping noise when the engine is running that increases in speed with the engine and when I turn the A/C the chirping also picks up speed when the clutch engages. So I either screwed up the clutch when I put it in or there is a bigger problem with the compressor which will require me to buy more than just a new one if I go Motorcraft...not to mention the fee to have the system discharged. I may just rent the tools from the Zone to evacuate and recharge it myself, though...

MOTORCRAFT Warranty Information
12 months/12000 miles. IMPORTANT A/C COMPRESSOR WARRANTY NOTE: To effectively restore an air conditioning system after compressor failure or other system contamination, in addition to compressor replacement, the following should also be completed: 1) Replace the accumulator/receiver drier. 2) Replace the expansion valve. 3) Replace the hose assemblies that contain the muffler. 4) Perform a complete system flush and install an in-line pancake filter (YF-2575). 5) Replace the condenser (on vehicles built prior to 1995). In the event that subsequent compressor warranty reimbursement is requested, supporting documentation that indicates the above was completed may be required to maintain the warranty coverage on the Motorcraft® compressor.

Anybody have a different opinion of what may be the issue?

 

What a pain. Yeah, the coil is just a press fit so it's pretty tight, and it needs to go on straight or else it will bind up and just make it harder to get on. Laying under the truck you can see when it's seated correctly on the collar of the compressor.

Anyway, are you sure the chirping you are hearing is from the clutch/compressor? It would be normal to hear the chirp pick up when you turn the a/c on by the way since the engine rpm is automatically increased to compensate for the added load of the compressor. Could it be coming from the belt tensioner pulley or the idler pulley?

 

Hey Cincy, the same thing that happened to you just happened to me this week. Luckily I was only about half mile from home when mine snapped. I removed everything but the coil today and it looked exactly like the pic above. I'm thinking about removing the coil tomorrow replacing it along with the clutch assembly but im concerned that my compressor has an issue.

When you mentioned that yours turned freely did it feel similar to turning a shaft on an electric motor or did it have some resistance?