Big Brian
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Bought an 08 Eddie Bauer about a month ago that is in excellent condition. I tried the A/C before I bought it but its still really cold outside and was hard to tell if it was actually working or not being it has the auto climate control.
Turned out it was not working. I looked at the compressor as the engine was running, A/C on and saw the compressor was not turning.
Did the usual checks, fuses, low pressure cutout switch, nothing worked. Seemed to have enough charge to work.
Crap
So I am just staring at the compressor and notice that something is strange about it.
Wait a minute, the clutch hub is missing!
So I crawl underneath for a better look, yep its gone. Ok no big deal get a new hub I thought.
So I order one and a shim pack from Rock. I am concerned that the compressor shaft and bolt hole is really rusty, so the hub must have been missing for a while. The truck was from New Brunswick so the A/C probably wasnt used a whole lot, this vehicle was owned by an older person and is in great shape and I am sure they would have fixed it if they knew there was a issue.
But anyway
I get the stuff from Rock, and tried to slide the hub on. It goes about 1/3 of the way and that it. So I clean the shaft with a dremel and got most of the rust off. But no change. Still will hardly go on. Another thing I was concerned about was that the compressor was locked up, but now I could spin it my hand since I had the clutch on and it felt fine.
I end up taking a dental pick that is bent 90* and grinding it down for clearance and was able to run it through the splines on the shaft. About at the point that the hub was sticking I could feel a ridge or something there, maybe the splines got messed up when the hub came off.
I was able to clean all that out of the shaft after some time and patience. But very little change in the hub going on the shaft. Now I am thinking that the splines may be slightly twisted from the hub coming off.
So at this point I decide just to pick a shim and put it in the hub and drive dukie home. Once its on its not coming off. If this is a fail then its new compressor time.
I get the thinnest shim and put the hub on and use my giant brass drift and tap the hub on. It goes on pretty good but again its not coming off without taking the compressor off and using a puller of some kind on it.
Ok now it on and time to deal with the bolt hole. Its rusted too and I do have thread chasers so I cleaned that up fairly easily. So put the bolt in. Tighten it down and hope everything is seated correctly since it hard to tell with the hub bound to the shaft like it is. I did not even bother measuring the clutch gap, it will either work or it wont. Looked ok from what I could tell and from past experience.
Now its the moment of truth. Start it up set the A/C to 60
Stare at the clutch
Nothing.
Stare some more.
Hey it kicked on for a few seconds! then again! Its right at 60 in my garage so I am not too concerned, I get in the truck and sure enough its blowing cold.
So I park it in the sun and wash it, take it for a drive in the afternoon and its working fine. I am going to look at it today after I put some miles on it and just to be sure the bolt is still tight and everything looks good but I think got lucky for a change.
Turned out it was not working. I looked at the compressor as the engine was running, A/C on and saw the compressor was not turning.
Did the usual checks, fuses, low pressure cutout switch, nothing worked. Seemed to have enough charge to work.
Crap
So I am just staring at the compressor and notice that something is strange about it.
Wait a minute, the clutch hub is missing!
So I crawl underneath for a better look, yep its gone. Ok no big deal get a new hub I thought.
So I order one and a shim pack from Rock. I am concerned that the compressor shaft and bolt hole is really rusty, so the hub must have been missing for a while. The truck was from New Brunswick so the A/C probably wasnt used a whole lot, this vehicle was owned by an older person and is in great shape and I am sure they would have fixed it if they knew there was a issue.
But anyway
I get the stuff from Rock, and tried to slide the hub on. It goes about 1/3 of the way and that it. So I clean the shaft with a dremel and got most of the rust off. But no change. Still will hardly go on. Another thing I was concerned about was that the compressor was locked up, but now I could spin it my hand since I had the clutch on and it felt fine.
I end up taking a dental pick that is bent 90* and grinding it down for clearance and was able to run it through the splines on the shaft. About at the point that the hub was sticking I could feel a ridge or something there, maybe the splines got messed up when the hub came off.
I was able to clean all that out of the shaft after some time and patience. But very little change in the hub going on the shaft. Now I am thinking that the splines may be slightly twisted from the hub coming off.
So at this point I decide just to pick a shim and put it in the hub and drive dukie home. Once its on its not coming off. If this is a fail then its new compressor time.
I get the thinnest shim and put the hub on and use my giant brass drift and tap the hub on. It goes on pretty good but again its not coming off without taking the compressor off and using a puller of some kind on it.
Ok now it on and time to deal with the bolt hole. Its rusted too and I do have thread chasers so I cleaned that up fairly easily. So put the bolt in. Tighten it down and hope everything is seated correctly since it hard to tell with the hub bound to the shaft like it is. I did not even bother measuring the clutch gap, it will either work or it wont. Looked ok from what I could tell and from past experience.
Now its the moment of truth. Start it up set the A/C to 60
Stare at the clutch
Nothing.
Stare some more.
Hey it kicked on for a few seconds! then again! Its right at 60 in my garage so I am not too concerned, I get in the truck and sure enough its blowing cold.
So I park it in the sun and wash it, take it for a drive in the afternoon and its working fine. I am going to look at it today after I put some miles on it and just to be sure the bolt is still tight and everything looks good but I think got lucky for a change.
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