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Whenever the ac is turned on in our 2001 honda civic is starts screaming like a banchee and is not a good time. So while I was changing linkage on it (I really hate linkages in the northeast, for the love of god, the allen key is not the answer, so I just grind them off). Anyway, I figured I would check it out and see what the issue with the ac screaming is while i had it in the shop.
The AC clutch is loose, like rattling loose, from what I gather that is a know issue on these.
It has a new belt on the ac, alt belt and and new power steering belt and new (used) power steering compressor.I took off the clutch and it looks like the splins on the clutch are wearing out, so I figure that needs replaced.
I am trying to take off the pulley. I took out the snap ring just fine but the pulley won’t come off. Do I need a puller? I don’t want to start pulling on something I don’t need too.the bearing doesn’t sound too bad so I am not sure I even need to pull the pulley.
I just wanted some input here as I have it down this far.
should I buy a kit which as a new bearing for the pulley (not a new pulley) and a new clutch. http://tinyurl.com/kfwukfz
should I just get the whole kit with the new pulley. http://tinyurl.com/ohqzdnt
or what I am thinking, going to the pic-a-part and just pull the clutch off a junked honda civic if it is not loose and buy the bearing off amazon for 40 bucks, seeing I am think deep, I am thinking of just changing the bearing, but I don’t think I need a new pulley.we plan on keeping this car another year or 2 max.
Just know there are mechanics here that would know what I really need to do with this. Here are a few pics. Also, how do I get this pulley off? I don’t want to damage a working compressor.
thanks much
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Having noise only when the A/C is on indicates an internal compressor problem, not the clutch. The clutch has load on it all the time and if it’s noisy, it will always be making noise. That being said, your clutch looks like hell and if it’s loose, it’s bad. Your course of action is correct in that you can replace just the clutch if that’s the only problem. The only thing that stops you from that is having the clutch/pulley bearing seized onto the compressor nose, which seems to also be your problem. But like I said, noise only with A/C running means it needs the whole thing anyway.
Even when they look a lot less rusty than yours, they can be very hard to remove without damaging the compressor. The shaft of the compressor is bad to apply any force to, and it’s not easy to rig up a puller to push around the rim of the compressor nosing properly (let alone with it still mounted on the car).
Well I pulled the pulley and expected the worse and got good news. The bearing is fine. it spins just fine, doesn’t have any grinding at all. So I will spray it down with brake cleaner to get the crud off of it and then clean the race a bit so it can get it back on the A.C. compress easier. Then put the snap ring back on and then just needs a new clutch.
the a.c. on this car was cold, from what I have read, it will be tossing ice cubs once I get the new clutch.
what is the gap that needs to be set between the clutch and the pulley? 0.5-0.15mm (0.020-0.006″)? I found that on a honda civic forum but like to check here as well.
thanks!
I got a good clutch at a pic-a-part today, with 3 inches of snow on all the cars, that was a good time. Luckily I found one off a 6th gen honda civic that should work (I paid 10 bucks for it, so if it doesn’t, oh well).
Does anyone know by chance the torque spec for the nut that holds the A.C. clutch on? I have seen anywhere from 13 ft/lbs to 22 ft/lbs.
thanks again.
I would go on the light side of that. It’s usually pretty easy to break that threaded part of the shaft off if it’s too tight. I hold the pulley with my hand only when tightening them to make sure I can’t get too much torque on it. I also use a dot of red threadlocker on them since it’s on the looser end of snug but you don’t want it going anywhere.
Well I finally got back to the car and got the part. I had to Technical Direct a show, so the GF just drove my normal car while I drive my winter car.
I got the part from the junk yard, got it on, and now I have an issue.
I start the car and the puller is spinning fine.. I hit the A.C. button, I can hear the engine change like the a.c is on. But when I look, I don’t see the clutch engaged/spinning… Could this be due to the 40 degree F the car is in and the Ambient Temperature Switch is not engaging the clutch?
Its odd, I can hear the change in the engine, but not the click of the compressor. The pully/bearing was hard to get back on so I had to use a little bit of a helper to get it on, could that have caused an issue?
thanks for any insight.
BTW, I got the shop manual and the torque is 13 ft/lbs
Derp, what I hear kicking on is the second fan Honda uses for the a.c. So I tore this down and took out the A.C. Stator. I test it by connecting it to the battery and it worked…. So I then put the stator back and check the ground, the ground is good, there is a short between the relay/fuse box and the Stator.
I checked the relays and they are fine and I played relax swap and they are all good.
Am I missing a fuse between the relay box and the unit?
The fan kicks on so that tells me the relays and such are good.
Any suggestions on where the wire shorted?
thanks!
This has been all kinds of fail…. I figured out I am stupid at 2 am last night while i laid in bed thinking about this. I was jumpering the contacts where the relay went incorrectly.. Once I jumpered them tonight after work, the magnet worked. so i put in a new relay and it still doesn’t turn on with the key in the on position and the AC button lit up and the fan blowing.
Is it not turning on due to the engine not running? If I put this all back together tomorrow should it work or is there a wiring issue to the relay? This does have a after market radio, but I take great pains to not let the power antenna wire or some other unused wire to short out. I have the radio disconnect too. I have visually inspected all the fuses in the relay/fuse box under the hood and the fuse box under the dash on the drivers side. Am I missing anything?
I guess what I am digging for is, should I put it all back together, the pulley is off the a.c. compressor, the alternator is out and the power steering is off to the side. I just don’t want to put this all back together to have to tear it down again. 🙂
Look at the wiring diagram for your car and trace the wiring for the AC clutch back from the clutch to the relay. After the relay where does it go? I ask this, because in many of the 2000 and later cars it is the engine computer that commands the AC to come on, after it has verified that the pressure switch/transducer inform that it is safe to do so. The ECM will not usually send the command to turn the AC on if the engine is not running. If the ECM is not in charge of commanding your AC on an off, then where does the wiring go from the relay? The pressure switch(es) and other sensors (i.e. ambient air sensor, thermistor) ? You will need to trace the entire circuit and test every component for proper operation to find out. Put some gauges on the system and make sure the refrigerant charge is proper.
It seems go to back to the fuse block under the dash and then to the ignition. But I think the relay is controlled by the computer, so I am tossing it back together this afternoon.
I did put my gauges on it and it is charged, so its not leaking / out of fluid. I just got the wiring diagram, so I’ll start tracing more wires.
Thanks!
It seems the issue is the thermal protector on the top of the a.c. compressor is blown. So I bought a new one.
Is there a secret on how to get the old one off? It seems like a real pain to get off of it and I don’t want to total a compressor.
thanks all.
This has been repaired. It was the Thermal Protector Set on the top of the A.C. compressor. I guess it doesn’t take much to make me happy, but when that a.c. clutch was spinning I was literally jumping for joy.
I also put a new bearing in it. I had it pressed at a local shop, but I was able to find one at autozone even though it said it wouldn’t fit. It looked like it was supposed to be pressed out, but they where able to press it out. It is part number MT2031 but I will tell you to do this at your own risk.
Good to hear. I remember replacing on of those on a 2005 civic several years ago. Congrats on a successful repair, it’s been a long time coming.
Bonus round, it passed inspection with no issues and my friend that did the inspections said it is solid.
so time for Earl Schibe…
Good to hear. I didn’t know what Earl Scheib was, and while finding out I came across something on Wikipedia every current customer of their locations should read:
Earl Scheib ceased operations nationwide on July 16, 2010. The corporation can no longer honor its customer warranties. The company allowed many of its shop managers to become small business owners by allowing them to purchase the equipment and fixtures in their shops, and to use the Earl Scheib name for their business. Many shop managers became business owners under this model. The majority of shops were closed; leased locations were turned back over to the landlords; and if the real estate was owned by Scheib, then those locations were sold.
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