Engine/Transmission (1994 - 1998) A/C Squeal

[DPellegrin]

Hey fellas today I was on the freeway I drove about 40 miles with the A/C on. When I got off the freeway I could hear a low pitched squeal everytime the A/C clicked on when it clicked off you couldnt hear it. I thought maybe a bearing or something I shut the truck off for about an hour when I came back out I turned on the A/C and no squeal. Has this happend to anyone else? It wasnt real bad. Thanks.

 

[DPellegrin]

Anyone? Anyone?

 

[JO'Leary]

I get a little bit of belt noise from mine, with a/c on. Went away after i replaced the belt but came back 6 months later.



Joe

 

[MFrenchek]

I had something similar happen to my LHS (uses a similar compressor). It eventually got so bad that it would not cool anymore and had to change it out. I take it that the low pitched squeal is more like a soft rumble.

 

[Matthug]

Yeah the bearings are probably ceasing up in the compressor, time for a new one!

 

[Andy Redmond]

Remove the serp. belt. Spin belt tensioner pulley, does bearing feel okay?



Does tensioner the tensioner fight you and have a healthy spring when you remove the belt?



Spin a/c pulley, any rough bearing noise or growl?



We want to elim. belt slippage as being a prob. , then isolate the noise.



While the belt is off spin water pump, alt. and fan (fan mount bearing), these should also spin freely and not have bearing growl or noise.



Inspect face of a/c clutch are the "spring" fingers broken? if so the clutch likely will still work but should be very noisy and may not engage/disengage properly.



BTW, the clutch for the 94-95 model should fit the later trucks, but you'll have to swap your clutch wire elec. connector over onto the new clutch coil wires.



Special tools are necessary to do this properly and you may find it easier to recover the refrig. and then remove the compressor and do this on a work bench.



A trustworthy a/c shop in your area, may likely save you money in the long haul. .



Good luck

Andy

 

[BigPapa]

Inspect face of a/c clutch are the "spring" fingers broken? if so the clutch likely will still work but should be very noisy and may not engage/disengage properly.



BTW, the clutch for the 94-95 model should fit the later trucks, but you'll have to swap your clutch wire elec. connector over onto the new clutch coil wires.



Special tools are necessary to do this properly and you may find it easier to recover the refrig. and then remove the compressor and do this on a work bench.

The broken springs thing happened to mine. I bought a new clutch for a later model because it wasn't available separately for the '95. You will have to change it out completely, including the pulley and coils. I bought a cheap pair of snap ring pliers and bent them to get to the snap ring and used 2 or 3 6mm (?) bolts to pull the clutch face off. Did it on the truck with no major problems. Make sure that you DO NOT pry or push on the shaft.



Good luck if that's your problem,

Scott

 

[The3rdAmigo]

I also had the broken spring thing happen, just this week actually. I did a bunch of searching, and wound up following Andy's advice. When I drained the oil from the compressor, it wasn't very good looking, and the orifice tube had a bunch of black chunks in it. Replaced the compressor, accum, and OT. Flushed the system. I did try to get the original clutch off the compressor, but mangled it in the process.