94 Explorer XLT AC Help

[mmunsee]

Hello everybody,

I just bought a 94 explorer xlt, it has the AC compressor, how ever the belt that is supposed to be on it is missing, and the plug is not plugged in, What type of belt would i need for that to see if the compressor even works? And how would I go about putting the belt on? thanks for any help in advance

 

[Allmost 50]

I'm only guessing, but I did take Air cond classes way back in 1978. The belt could have been removed because the ac clutch bearings were bad.
I would manually spin the ac clutch (engine OFF for safety) and listen for worn bearings. This ac clutch should spin easy and continue spinning for 10 seconds if the bearings are smoothe. Then hook up the wire and with the engine running have someone turn on the ac and listen for clutch to engage. If all this checks out then buy a belt and go from there.
Is the grove where the belt rides in the ac clutch assembly very rusty? Reason I ask that. If the belt might have just recently broke you may be lucky and have no ac problems. If the belt was removed you might look around inside of the X and find the belt.
Just trying to help.

 

[TedJ]

If someone went through the trouble to remove the belt and get the smaller one, there is probably a good reason for it. Like Almost 50 said, check the clutch bearings first. If they are ok, then try to turn the inner part of the clutch on the front by hand in the direction the belt turns.

If you can't turn it at all the compressor is seized and junk, so don't bother wasting the money on the belt.

If the inner part of the clutch turns, it should get harder and easier to turn over and over as the pistons inside go through the cycles.

I'd bet that it was seized and was causing the clutch to squeal and smoke when engaged, so someone disabled it by getting the different belt and unplugging the wiring. In my experience seizure is a common failure mode for these compressors...

If you want the belt, just go to the autparts store and ask for the one for your truck with A/C...

 

[mmunsee]

yes the pulley the belt goes on is a bit rusty, I will try to plug in the wire to see if the clutch kicks in.