A/C Elimination?

[techfreak16]

i have been wanting to get a shorter serpentine belt to use on my 91 explorer because my A/C compressor has been squealing and not working properly, and wanna gain a few HP before i have money to replace or fix the A/C. now my question is, the guy at autozone told me that the belt without A/C is the SAME SIZE as the one with AC??? so he said to "string" my pulleys and measure the string...anyone know the best way to go about eliminating my AC?
I need to know what belt, or size of belt to use, and is it ok to simply bypass the compressor pulley? or do i need a bypass pulley or sumthing? please any and all info you have regarding this would be great.

 

[Maniak]

The parts pusher is wrong. You can get a shorter belt for the 4.0 without a/c.

Goodyear Poly-V belts..

4060805 80.5" long WITHOUT a/c
4060872 87.250" long With A/c

~Mark

 

[techfreak16]

great! thanks for the quick response! any idea how much those are compared to the cheapo depot belts? he quoted 20.99 for AC and 21.99 for non ac. it was lame! mayeb i'll try oreilly? haha and i take it theres no need for a bypass pulley or whatever BS he was preaching to me? just leave the compressor idle?

 

[Jon94]

Napa part# 25-060810 for a non-AC belt. BTW, you won't gain any HP from this. You might as well simply disconnect the electrical connector on the compressor so it won't engage at all. It's the exact same thing.

 

[Maniak]

Those are Goodyear numbers. They should be able to cross reference them on their computer.

I've only seen people "bypass" the a/c by removing the compressor and running the shorter belt. I don't know if the Compressor pulley will be in the way.

~Mark

 

[techfreak16]

Napa part# 25-060810 for a non-AC belt. BTW, you won't gain any HP from this. You might as well simply disconnect the electrical connector on the compressor so it won't engage at all. It's the exact same thing.

oh, really? it was my understanding that the less pulleys your engine has to turn, the less resistance your engine has to face? maybe this is wrong, i remember removing the power steering belt from my 93 Civic, and low, n behold...helped hi-mid-through top end, not too noticeably tho...and disengaging by means of electrical connector still means the engine is constantly turning that pulley, and if its the bearings that are squealing, i heard it could seize that pulley and F sum stuff up

 

[Maniak]

Sort of...

The a/c pulley just "spins" since there is a clutch there. Once you put power to the clutch then its doing work.

With the power steering example you gave, there is no clutch. You were spinning the pulley which was running a pump which takes power.. Much more than just spinning a pulley on a bearing (which is what the a/c one will do unless energized).

Now, if the a/c compressor bearing is going bad, then by all means bypass it until you can fix it.

~Mark

 

[aridaen]

I have a 5.0 that I just had to go through this exercise with. The belt to bypass the A/C compressor is a Gates #K060840 that is 84" long.

 

[FarmTruk]

interesting...


As of this afternoon, I've just become faced with this issue.


The X's A/C compressor bearing is shot, apparently. Noises, smoke, and little black burnt-looking bits flew out of when I investigated.

Spoke with a mechanic buddy. Said A/C job would easily be $500. Do I go with new/reman'd, junkyard, or say bye-bye to A/C?

He told me that disconnecting the elec conn would disable the compressor, and give me some time to investigate my next move.

Defrost apparently won't work as well w/o the A/C (was defrosting when the bearing gave way). But it'll be months before having no A/C becomes an issue. I've owned several vehicles w/o A/C, and it's tolerable, if not preferred.

 

[waskly]

make sure the short belts go around the other accessories the same manor some cant spin the other way.

 

[FarmTruk]

...He told me that disconnecting the elec conn would disable the compressor, and give me some time to investigate my next move...

Dadgumit.

Disconnected the compressor's wires, but the A/C pulley which freewheels seems to also be making some less-than-primo noise.

I'm guessing the extreme heat from the failed compressor bearing also damaged the pulley bearing.

Going to check out this "short-belt"/compressor-bypass as a temp fix.

Any further word on if the short belt will clear the installed compressor?

 

[2TimingTom]

^I bet your clutch went ka-blamo.

 

[huntman58]

on the 1st gen explorers the none A/C belt will go under the A/c compressor with no problem at all .I did this to my Nefs 94 tell he can get the cash to fix his A/C but he needs all new parts besides the compressor but you do not have to remove it to use the smaller belt and it is a better way to go as that way your not wearing the A/C pulley bearing at all. it also is not a bad idea to carry one with you as most of the time at lest for me the A/C pulley seams to go out and that way I can by pass it if need be . Sorry do not remember the part numbers.

 

[FarmTruk]

on the 1st gen explorers the none A/C belt will go under the A/c compressor with no problem at all .I did this to my Nefs 94 tell he can get the cash to fix his A/C but he needs all new parts besides the compressor but you do not have to remove it to use the smaller belt and it is a better way to go as that way your not wearing the A/C pulley bearing at all. it also is not a bad idea to carry one with you as most of the time at lest for me the A/C pulley seams to go out and that way I can by pass it if need be . Sorry do not remember the part numbers.

Thanks for the reply!



I'll be stopping by the parts store this evening to pick up a shorter belt.