See if there is room for puller to be used if you remove the fan from the water pump, and remove fan and shroud together. Should give you clearance to remove clutch from compressor, leaving compressor still connected to lines and engine. No freon loss. Let us know.

 

Ok, thanks for that info about removing the fan and shroud and pulling the ac compressor clutch. My biggest concern is still if its the ac or not. I just got the price on a serpentine belt for a 4.6 without ac, $17.00. I'm going to install this belt, and if the noise isn't present, then I'll know for sure it's the compressor. After that, I'll have to come up with a way to figure if it's the compressor or the clutch bearing. Let me know what you think is a sure fire test without spending a ton of cash!

 

Question:

As I follow this, you may have an A/C bearing problem.

In an attempt to isolate the problem ( good idea ) you
plan to install a fan belt for an engine without the A/C.

Before I would buy that belt, I would make absolutely certain that
it will fit the engine with the A/C compressor in place.

You may have already done this but if not, I hope you check it out first.

Ken H.

 

Hello there, new to this so pls bear with me. I have an engine knock, 150000km on 1998 4.7lt. this engine was disassembed, replaced all hyd lifters, timing chain etc. inspected cams, crank and wrist pins etc, all checked out. it sounds like wrist pins but hard to imagine....was told that that there was a recall due to sensor in manifold and to run synethetic oil. any info would be greatly appreciated, really dont want to pull engine out again tks peter

 

If i were you i would go with the whole clutch i have never been a big fan of just doing the bearing, it still leaves room for too much to go wrong especially for the price difference.

 

Take the belt off and spin the compressor pulley by hand se it it turns smooth or feels rough,, does it have and wobble or sideways play like a bad bearing?? If it is indeed the clutch bearing I would replace the whole hub, the bearing is staked into the hub and not an easy chore. I alway replace atleast the hub and end plate and most usually the clutch coil. With the miles you have the coil is prob getting weak anyway.. You should be able to tackle that with no special tools.. Pull the 8mm bolt off the end plate then put 2 flat screwdriver under it and gently work it off, then pull the snap ring off the hub and do the same to work that off the compressor, I usually use two 8" prybars with an angled head the work it off,, its all pretty straight foward and can be done in the vehicle ( and its much easier to do from underneath)

 

take a look at my "AC Troubles" thread one of links I have shows a clutch assembly being replaced. AC compressors are easy to change out, however, and this is a big however, not only to you change out the compressor, put also the dryer and somethings the condenser core as well. Add this to the fact you have to vacuum out the system to check for leaks and remove the air so you get a good refrigerant charge in it. The bottom line is if you have the tools, manifold gauge set, and vacuum pump it is not hard to work on these systems. Roughly 400 dollars will get all of the equipment you need to do a proper job. As you can see it will be cheaper to have the job done. Labor wise it will be cheaper to change out the whole compressor

 

finally after about a year of listening to the noise, yeah I know, it got louder. I'm layed off and decided it was a good time to take it apart. If it breaks, I don't need to go to work so I've got time to fix it. The fix. Bought the compressor clutch kit from Auto Zone. About $100. Included a clutch coil and some other stuff not needed, but it all came in the same box. Took about half an hour. Removed the belt, the pulley, one bolt holding it to the shaft. Had to hammer it off, real soft hits to do no damage, and when it came off the ball bearings fell out. the bearing had self destructed. No other damage was found. Replaced bearing and pulley, hooked up the electrical connection, works good, no noise...... and only took a year! next problem, electric door locks not working with remote. I found a fix at this site, but need help getting the door panels off.