So I went out to replace both of the radiator hoses but after charging the battery, filling up the compressor, putting air in the right front (goes flat every 2 days, rim leak at the tire seal, hard to fix) and getting it pulled into the garage with no water, my back was already telling me I had enough, and I hadn't even done anything yet. So I pull off the CAI (Cold Air Intake, SLP Stainless if anyone cares, probably not...) and there is the upper hose that blew out. I take and compress the spring clamps and the hose comes off without a fight, very odd for a car that is over 23 years old.... Whatever, I grab the new hose, measure out where to cut the excess hose off at, cut it, and put it on. I just so happen to have some antifreeze behind the drivers seat (small leak on the heater hoses, but those hoses are $200... I will just keep dribbling in coolant lol) and I put it in the radiator.
The antifreeze was full strength so no worry about overheating or freezing since I topped it off with RO/DI water, which is the purest form of water there is. Nothing but hydrogen and oxygen. So I get it mostly topped off and need to start the car to get it to warm up and open the thermostat and right when I start it, the ac compressor clutch is making a horrible noise. Yup, it was rubbing the pulley face even though there is no refrigerant in the system and thus, will not kick in the electromagnet to suck the clutch to the pulley. Maybe there is a fault causing it to energize... I don't know. So I turn it off and the clutch is still sucked up to the pulley.... So I grab a screw driver and try to pry the two apart and yea, they are not coming apart without some real force...
I ended up grabbing a pick and a small screw driver and working it where I got the screw driver between the clutch and pulley and put some heavy force on it to see if it was magnetic force or if it was just tension... It was what I didn't want, tension. Somewhere in the years this has been on the car, this clutch has gotten stupid hot and warpped the little pieces of metal that are made to PULL the clutch away from the pulley. Now, they are forcing it to the pulley causing a horrible grinding sound and producing a lot of heat and some sparks. Real safe...
So I have two options here, actually 3, okay maybe a few more after that...
- I can get a new compressor. It's only $300... Who needs food, a roof over their head, electricity....
- I can buy a new clutch and removal/install tool... Not as expensive, but still out of my range at the moment sadly.
- I can purchase the removal tool only... Cheapest by far, but far from cheap for my situation...
- I can rent the tool from autozone, but sadly the check you use as collateral would bounce higher than any bouncing ball in the history of bouncing balls (there is an innuendo in there somewhere...)
- I can take a rather large pry bar and just break the clutch straight off of the compressor and hope like hell I don't damage the pulley since it is an important part of the belt system on these cars....
Pretty much my only option is 5... There are other options but lets face it, it needs to be replaced so why bother being gentle with it. I guess there is a 6th option that goes along with option 5, adn that is to back off the nut that is holding the clutch on and pry on it at different spots to work it further from the pulley. This actually may be the best option with the least risk to the pulley attached to the compressor.
I do still need to pull everything off of the front of the compressor and replace the front seal. It started leaking about 5 years ago and I just never got around to getting all of the tools around to replace it. Hell, I have the seal on top of my tool box, but I don't have a seal puller (can just use a slide hammer and drywall screw honestly), I don't have the seal installer (very important to keep from ripping the new seal), I don't have the clutch puller, I don't have the clutch installer, I don't have the pulley puller, but I do have the snap ring pliers to remove the 2 snap rings holding all of that on, so I guess there is that....
By the time I was done with the upper hose and trying to figure out what I was going to do about the AC, my back said you had enough and I turned off the battery charger, turned off the compressor (air compressor for the shop), closed the doors and turned off the lights.
Oh, and the power steering pump is whining again because it is out of fluid due to a leaking pressure hose, or might be return.... not sure. Everything leaks on this friggin car... But, have to have money to fix every bit of it and there is no money coming in at all and I"m looking to start selling off things just to pay for gas to drive back and forth to OKC in this clapped out POS because there is absolutely no work down here where I am... Not for an old fart like me.... Sometimes, life just sucks...