petersonm

Hello! My car started making a metal-on-metal (grinding-ish) noise a few days ago when the car is running and I immediately suspected the a/c compressor or a bearing was going bad. When I turn on the a/c and the clutch engages the noises stop. So I took it into a shop yesterday and an hour later I get a call that it is going to cost $1800!!! to fix. Really!?

Breakdown, (parts, labor)
compressor 699.99, 189.99
dryer 57.86, 49.99
harmonic balancer 173.99, 109.99
ac belt 65.85, 39.99
serpentine belt 63.60, 39.99
refrigerant 95.84, 0
recharge 0, 59.99

needless to say, I took the car home. I just couldn't justify giving them that much money to fix it. I am looking for advice on how to fix this on the cheap/ what type of damage I could do if I drive it the way it is (for a few days until i fix it myself)

questions,
1. Apparently they are recommending i replace the harmonic balancer because it "wobbles", but when I watch the harmonic balancer while the car running it looks fine. Is it possible that i need to replace it? Can I do some crank damage if I drive the car and it actually is "wobbling"? (this is the "issue" that makes me nervous)

2. What is the worst thing that could happen if I drive it with the compressor making grinding noises? Seize up, snap the belt, and loose power steering?

3. Is it possible to do a a/c delete with a shorter belt for now (its almost winter here)?

I plan on fixing it next weekend when I can get to my parents house with tools, but I need to try to make it work for this week to get to work. Any comments/suggestion are appreciated. thanks

2003 Lancer OZ Rally
4G94 SOHC, 5 Speed, 140k miles

Automatic 51

iTrader: (2)

If you can replace the ac clutch without taking the compressor off you can avoid the need for replacing the refrigerant. That might be something if you are mechanically inclined. I've had friends do this on other cars (mazda 3 for example) but I have no first hand experience with our cars ac compressors. Mine is working great still thankfully, knock on wood.

You could run it with a shorter belt however, the ac system is used with the defrosted to remove moisture from the air. That's what combats the fogging of the windows.

If you were to run it and it seized it would likely break the belt. That broken belt could get wraped around the alternator belt at that point and destroy that too. Then you'll really up a creek.

petersonm

Ideally i would like to just do the ac clutch since it still blows cold air, but I dont know how realistic it is to try to swap the clutch. Maybe ill see if I can hunt down a junkyard compressor and pull off the clutch. I typically do all the work on my car when I have tools, but now I live in the city so it is more difficult to do.

Good point on the alternator belt. I only drive 8-ish miles to work though so the battery would at least hold out until I got home.

Any thoughts on the harmonic balancer? How do you test a harmonic balancer?

Automatic 51

iTrader: (2)

Here's a diagram with the ac clutch being part #14, its a couple hundred bucks but not bad depending on how much a used one might run.

http://www.oemmitsubishiparts.com/pa...gramCallOut=14

As for the balancer, its just that big pulley at the bottom that the ac and alternator belt goes around. Its super easy to change it if you want go while you're in there. I don't know how one would go bad if its not visibly out of round. Should be easy to inspectwhile the car is running.

petersonm

thanks for the diagram. i didn't come across that one yet. It looks like I should be able to figure it out.

I have had the harmonic balancer off in the past when i did the timing belt, so i am not worried about taking it off and swapping it. I am just questioning why the shop told me i need to replace it in the first place. I mean it looks round.. it spins straight when the car is running.. what else do i look for?

BlueGoat

The Harmonic Balancer is two pulley wheels in one. First runs the PS belt, A/C etc. The second runs the alternator.
The harmonic balancer is actually only held together by a rubber gasket glued between the two. When you remove one you can actually look at it and tell.

This means if the gasket between the two goes bad or dries up to much it will not longer hold the two together anymore which would cause wobble or they could actually separate. The best way to tell if its bad is get down there grab onto it and try to pull it off if it wobbles back and forth and you can walk it off by pulling on alternating sides its bad and it needs to be replaced. It may work for a while but in that case the pulleys can separate causing loss of PS and Alternator belt. This may be why the shop is telling you it needs to be replaced. Why the two are not welded together is beyond me but get under the car and really pull on it if its solid as a rock the shop is most likely trying to get more cash from you or they are doing preventative maintenance.

Because of the guides on the other pulleys,idler/tensioner... it keeps the belt inline enough it may be hard to see it wobbles or it may look as though its spinning straight with no issues. Hope this helps

BlueGoat

This is an image of what it looks like when it fails

Automatic 51

iTrader: (2)

Ah cool, thanks for that picture. I did my belts a year ago and mine was solid and I couldn't recall off the top of my head what it looked like in detail.

petersonm

Finally doing these fixes.. Can someone verify the parts I received are correct? They are generally correct but the anti-rotate pin in the round inner electric part (name??) is in different location. It seems like if the pin isn't in the hole it won't sit flat on the compressor and it may rotate. Thanks.

meckert

iTrader: (11)

must have missed this thread early on, but i picked up an evo compressor used here on the forum, 150. Has worked fine for 5-6 years. Realize you now have parts--they will work as long as the compressor isnt the issue, as it has been with mine. GL