Front Engine Noises, P/S Pump Play & Compressor Clutch

[Gene]

1994 Ford Taurus, GL, 4-dr Sedan, 3.0 L OHV (pushrod), NON-flex fuel, naturally aspirated, fwd, 105,000 miles. A/C set up has teh 3/8-n space behind the belt (on the compressor side).

Sorry for the long message, I want to give as much detail as I can and never sure what exactly is relevant, so rather give too much, than not enough. Hope this is not too much information to read!

Problem: I have had some noise coming from the front of the engine (pass side, water pump side). I heard it on start up and it sounded like some bolts being shaken in a coffee can. The sound would dissipate or disappear after about a minute of operation. Recently the noise has changed to a constant sound that is medium or lower pitch when in the passenger compartment. I don’t hear it when driving but that could be from road noise, etc.

Relevant history – Have had some belt whine in the past. Mechanic told me to just rub some tire marker stick on belt and that worked. Also hit the belt with some belt dressing at one point (see pics!), but belt whine is no longer the problem. When I got car 6+ years ago it had no A/C. When I removed the entire dash and replaced the heater core, I also replaced the evaporator. Then later following ETCG videos, I replaced the accumulator/drier, the liquid line & the manifold lines. Flushed the condenser with a kit, added PAG oil and charged the system. Compressor worked and I had A/C for a while. One day got smoke coming from under the hood at a traffic light and the a/c quit.

Have overhauled the cooling system: double flush, new radiator, thermostat, 90% of new hoses (all except one from water pump), heater core. Just got done (~2-weeks) changing and flushing the transmission fluid (replaced filter too) and flushed and changed the P/S fluid.

Observations: Using advice here, I got some tubing, held one end near my ear and moved the other end around the front of the engine. Here is what I heard, or didn’t:
Water pump – no sound
Generator – no sound
Tensioner – no sound
Idler pulley – no sound
P/S Pump – maybe slight whine, but hardly noticeable or periodic. No whining sounds observed when I turn the wheel lock to lock.
Compressor – vibration sounds at back and some periodic rattling in front of belt from pulley

What I have done: So far, I have removed the belt – it looks good to me. (can supply pictures if needed.) Bought a new DayCo belt. Purchased an A/C bypass pulley and was attempting to pull the compressor and install the by-pass pulley. (Parts people told me using a smaller belt, the ones that say “w/o a/c” would not work, I needed bypass pulley). Getting to the compressor is a b*tch! LOL! Thought I’d just pull the P/S pump and have room, but that requires a puller to remove the pulley to access the mounting bolts. Saw a video where the entire Ford alternator-P/S bracket was removed. I have taken off a bunch of bolts and nuts and the whole thing doesn’t move!

Now that I am into it, my thinking has changed. The A/C system still is under pressure – got a discharge at both hi & lo Shrader valves. So maybe the compressor is still good and I just need a clutch?

So am I on the right path? What have I missed? Any additional information needed?

How do I get to the Compressor and test or replace the clutch?

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Topic

[Gene]

Here is a video of the P/S pump – normal?

sorry for the shaky video.

[URL=http://i1072.photobucket.com/albums/w378/CanDo807B/Front%20End%20Noise%20001_zpsd6272bll.mp4][IMG]http://i1072.photobucket.com/albums/w378/CanDo807B/th_Front%20End%20Noise%20001_zpsd6272bll.mp4[/IMG][/URL]

[Author]

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