2004 4.0 V6 Loud Click in Engine Bay *updated* *video*

[Juckerz]

Howdy,

My 2004 Explorer XLT 4.0 V6 w/ 80k miles has developed a loud CLICK every 15 or so seconds in the engine bay,,, it looks like the A/C compressor is acting weird.

The compressor can be seen in the following video:

https://youtu.be/8_R5pI6HdeQ


As you can see,, it turns,,,, click!,, stops,,,, Click!,, starts again. It does this regardless of whether the A/C in the car is switched on or off. (a/c works fine,, blows nice and cold).


Compressor clutch? Anyone dealt with this?

Cheers

 

[boominXplorer]

Turn your a/c off and see if the click is still there. Might be a loud clutch engagement.

 

[Juckerz]

Turn your a/c off and see if the click is still there. Might be a loud clutch engagement.

Thanks Boominxplorer ,,, I posted a video above,,, definitely something to do with the compressor.

 

[TechGuru]

I don't want to say this is normal normal but it's kind of normal. As the A/C clutch wears down the gap gets bigger and thus the click gets louder.

If you remove the clutch there may be shims you can remove to bring the gap down. From Mitchell1 OnDemand5: "The air gap specification is 0.016" - 0.031" (0.41mm - 0.79mm)."

If it's clicking on/off excessively then you're probably a little bit low on refrigerant.

In summery it's not hurting anything, if the noise bothers you look into removing some shims from the clutch.

 

[Juckerz]

I don't want to say this is normal normal but it's kind of normal. As the A/C clutch wears down the gap gets bigger and thus the click gets louder.

If you remove the clutch there may be shims you can remove to bring the gap down. From Mitchell1 OnDemand5: "The air gap specification is 0.016" - 0.031" (0.41mm - 0.79mm)."

If it's clicking on/off excessively then you're probably a little bit low on refrigerant.

In summery it's not hurting anything, if the noise bothers you look into removing some shims from the clutch.

Thanks for the info,,,, forgive my ignorance,, but why would it keep doing that every 10 seconds when the A/C is turned off?

 

[boominXplorer]

The a/c compressor is activated on all modes EXCEPT floor. Put it on the floor heat and see if the clicking stops.

 

[Juckerz]

OK,, I kinda figured it out,,, I forgot the a/c engages when the knob in the car is set to windshield defrost,, which it was.

I'll charge the system as previously suggested.... I can live with the loud clutch for now.

 

[TechGuru]

OK,, I kinda figured it out,,, I forgot the a/c engages when the knob in the car is set to windshield defrost,, which it was.

I'll charge the system as previously suggested.... I can live with the loud clutch for now.

Ya I really hate that it has a mind of it's own on the defrost setting, I believe it uses a outside temp sensor. I once needed my compressor to come on on defrost to defog my windshield and it would not come on so I had to run max fan on max a/c to slowly defog my windshield.

With the compressor manually turned off via the button with light the compressor should only activate on max a/c and defrost AFAIK.

 

[Tech By Trade]

Yes, the Compressor turns on for Defrost in order to dry the air before it hits the window. The original function of AC was to control humidity, The cooling aspect was just a byproduct.