Anyone Changed the A/C Compressor Clutch?

[dco43054]

There have been a couple threads dealing with the air conditioning compressor failing, but I can't find one where someone just replaced the clutch.

I'm getting a clicking noise from the compressor whenever the AC is engaged. The AC is working fine, so I believe it's just the clutch. It seems the clutch is about a $50 part.

That is a really tight space, so unfortunately, it would seem you have to remove the compressor to replace the clutch.

Anyone replaced just the clutch? Is it possible to do in place? Is the clutch even available as a repair part? I'm not seeing a listing for it on the Ford Parts site.

thx

 

[JohnelP]

Hi, 2013 XLT (3.5 NA). I think the air conditioning (a/c) compressor clutch is gone. Noise in the area, clutch fails to engage permanently (kind of oscillates between ON and OFF) and the (new) accessories belt tensioner is vibrating. I see ford sells the a/c compressor clutch separately, and it seems it can be changed without throwing the A/C compressor.
I am looking at ford manual, and I do not see the instructions for the A/C compresor clutch change. Only the complete A/C compressor.
Q1) How common is to change the AC compressor clutch on the gen 5 explorers? Anybody around here did it? Tips and tricks?
Q2) i see the ford OE is 390$ for the clutch kit. and 500$ for the OE AC compressor. What is easier? to change the clutch? or the whole compressor?
Q3) I see a lot of aftermarket AC compressor clutches. at 50 USD. Compared to ford oe 390 USD, it is a big difference, and not sure if I can gamble it or not? What did you use for the replacement?
Thanks!

 

[Steve8316]

Like the original poster in this thread, you've gone from a guess about a noise & vibration to the cost of a part that might not change anything, and then to a LOT of work to find out if your guess was wrong. But you may find that the replacement part is worse than the original (which is VERY likely) and that it has no effect on the actual problem that prompted this (which is also likely).

You should stop, and go back to your assumption that the clutch is the source of the noise, and test that hypothesis without changing any parts, or disturbing any more than necessary. The frequency of any repair on thousands of other vehicles is NOT a diagnostic concern for any symptom on YOURS. Nor is the cost or quality of any part. If the clutch on yours is bad, it doesn't matter if it's the first ever to go bad, or if it's the last; doesn't matter if a replacement is free, or more than the cost of a new vehicle; doesn't matter if replacements are as good as factory, or not. Same if it's NOT bad - none of those things matter. All that matters is IF it's bad. So that's the only thing you should try to ascertain right now.

An easy way to find out is: slip the belt off of it, and check how things move. If they wobble, rattle, & grind... Check EVERY belt-driven component while the belt is off/loose.

 

[1sicbronconut]

Well first of all it's over a nine year old thread Usually when I hear the compressor clutch "clicking" on and off the usual cause is a low charge on refrigerant but that's only a guess at this point. If I was working on it (I've been Ford technician for over 35 years) I'd hook up a set of AC gauges to see if the refrigerant charge is low and go from there.