Archived AC compressor issue...can I use non ac belt???

[Weidner]

importand question - can I use a non ac belt on a truck with ac and drive until ac is fixed???



My air coditioning stopped working on the way home yesterday. I did not think much of it at the time, but it seamed like the truck was working a little hard like it had a load on it. I got home, parked it in the garage and I could smell and see smoke. It was coming from the ac compressor. I rolled the truck out of the garage and looked at it in the light and it is deffinatly the ac compressor, or belt that was smoking. After it cooled down I tried to start it and it did not want to start, extreem engine load it looked to be. I removed the belt and the ac compressor is locked up tight. I have two questions now... 1. how do I tell if it is just a clutch, or if it is the compressor - I think I can replace the clutch myself, but compressor would need an ac machine. That leads me to the second question 2. can I put a belt on for a non ac truck and drive this in the mean time?

 

[Bschneider]

Odds are, your compressor is frozen. You'll need a new one (w/ clutch), a new drier, and a new orifice tube.



But you can absolutely bypass the compressor with a shorter belt, the only tough part will be figuring out what size belt you need to do that. One way to shorten that time is to get a rope and run it around the pulleys the way it needs to go without the compressor, then take that rope to an auto parts store and get a belt roughly that same length. It may take a few trips to get the right belt.

 

[SDrake]

I read in a post somewhere here that Dodge has a non AC belt that worked in this situation. This would save yoy a lot of time if not money. Maybe worth a call.

 

[jdooner]

Non A/C Belt

Mr. Bob has them.

www.mrbobsdistributing.com

 

[B.G. Smith]

importand question - can I use a non ac belt on a truck with ac and drive until ac is fixed???



"After it cooled down I tried to start it and it did not want to start, extreem engine load it looked to be. I removed the belt and the ac compressor is locked up tight. I have two questions now... 1. how do I tell if it is just a clutch, or if it is the compressor. " The AC compressor is out of the circuit when starting so it is probably the bearing in the AC clutch/pulley, try turning just the front part of the clutch, it should still turn but will be stiff/hard. bg

 

[Weidner]

I can't get the compressor to turn at all with the belt off. I called to order one, and the first call I was quoted one price and the second call quoted a different. The part number they ordered was 5505539ai.



If anyone has a part catolog can you verify this?

 

[GAmes]

I got mine from mopar4less. Way better prices than your local dealer and in my case less than a reman.

 

[Weidner]

Fixed. I bought a belt for a non- A/C truck and installed it, that worked perfectly to bypass the ac compressor so I could drive the truck to work to fix it. I bought a compressor for $250 and put it in in about an hour. AC is nice and cool now! I also bought a reciever drier, but could not get the old one out, so I skipped it.



Thanks for the advise guys.