A/C Clutch plate won't come off

Hello!

2006 Tacoma 4.0 4WD 6spd

I am trying to replace the AC clutch plate and bearing and have not made it past my stubborn clutch plate. There are a couple threads that begin to address this for people but they get hijacked as miscellaneous pulley threads. My issue is certainly my AC clutch plate and bearing so getting it off would be great. I don't require AC so replacing the compressor is not in my interest but if I cannot get this plate off, then I may have to go that route.

I have tried some gentle prying and some make shift pullers I put together with no luck. The exterior of the clutch plate (from rubber to outer edge is separated from the inner ring so the leverage I am able to get from the edge doesn't seem to transfer to the mounting surface. Additionally, I think I am dealing with some rust seized splines.

I don't have access to a puller either as I am situated in a remote town.

My questions are:

1) Can you carefully use heat on this part? Directed at the very center. slowly heating up the mounting surface (splines) from the outside - trying not to melt the rubber.

2) has anyone run into this issue and found another creative solution?


Thank you for any ideas you may have!

 

I didn't think you could replace the clutch but instead had to replace the entire unit?

When my A/C went out I had to replace the entire compressor.

 

Yes you can change the pulley / clutch without replacing the compressor.

Search the forums.

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/ac-clutch-failure-how-to-fix-blinking-light-squealing.448009/

 

Thanks for the link @Jimmyh - that is one of the write ups I followed and my outer ring and inner are indeed separated but I could not for the life of me get that inner ring to come off the splines. Hard to know how much I could beat on this part and still drive away if it didn't budge.

I ended up putting things back together and am going to try again in the future. I got some Deep Creep in some crevices so maybe that, plus some vibrations will help it slide off next time.

Never did end up hitting it with too much heat - I feel like committing to this may be the way to get it loose but if I commit I will need to be certain as the rubber around the inner ring will certainly turn to goo.

 

You can

I did

 

@anthony250f Sounds like your clutch plate came off no problem? Any hiccups trying to shimmy it off?

 

No problems at all. Came off easy

 

Got any pictures of what you're trying to work with?

You're not trying to pull it over the snap ring are you?

https://youtu.be/rnveetSuOH8

 

@Key-Rei Nope, next step after the 8mm bolt comes off the front of the clutch plate. Gotta get the clutch plate off before you have access to the snap-rings. The freezed frame in that video above is the separation I cannot get. Most I have read about, it just slides off. Not mine...

I am going to get back in there next warmish day and see if the deep creep I sprayed in there helped.

 

Ive never been into the compressor, but I cant image some heat would hurt things too much. Probably start to burn the rubber before anything else if you got it too hot

 

@SR-71A Thanks for your input sir! I think the next stab will involve some solid time under the map torch.