AC compressor clutch wobble

Need some advice on a AC compressor. The pulley seems to run true at all times but when it kicks on the clutch wobbles around. I’m really hoping that the clutch can just be replaced and not the entire unit. Does anyone have experience with this?

 

I’d replace the clutch sounds like it might be bent.

 

The shaft is probably bent and becomes worse under load than when free wheeling.. you may have to replace the whole thing.

 

Under load it seems to run true. Even at a very light load by just slightly giving it some gas. Maybe I just can see it because it’s moving faster though.

How would the shaft get bent?

 

No idea. Just throwing spaghetti on the wall. Is it vibrating? Or maybe it just looks bent when turning?

Here's what mine looked like on my old noisy compressor.
https://youtu.be/gIh0XYtiaHk

Maybe it's the bearing itself? Does it sound grindy and gritty when turning? That might be what's loose.

 

Nope no noise at all. It might be vibrating a bit at idle but not all that noticeable.

Weird thing is the other day I thought it resolved itself as it seemed to run true. The next day back to wobble. Today After work wobble then no wobble now.

Weird.

 

Do you check under the hood every time or are you just feeling it somehow while driving?

 

I don’t feel anything really. I just noticed it a few weeks ago and take a look at it just about every day to see if it gets worse. It seems to come and go though, with it wobbling most of the time. It’s weird.

But if it doesn’t always do it it’s a little less concerning that it’s the compressor itself. I’ll just have to change the bearing and see if that does anything. But I may just do the whole clutch if you can get it separate.

 

Could just be your clutch making not-perfectly-centered contact with the pulley on some occasions.

 

@ThunderOne - I've been procrastinating this mostly due to the compressor vs clutch dilemma. It's november & in Mass, defrost is a good idea to have. Anyway, I believe I saw this thread before, however maybe I didn't watch your vid. Pretty darned similar to what mine is like. Or was. I removed the belt a while ago. Question - was the prob the compressor or the clutch?

 

I just want to throw this out there. Ive had the same issue. After a new AC compressor and crank pulley I realized the the bolt hole that clamps the crank pulley onto the crank nose nose is slightly off center and crooked.

This clamps the crank pulley on slightly harder on one side than the other. It creates an out of round orbital movement. All the other accessories have enough tolerance for the light wobble but when that Clutch kicks on it clamps on to the AC pulley that is moving slightly out of round (because it’s following the crank). This is what causes the excessive vibration/wobble.

Ive confirmed my crank was never drilled out/repaired. It is just one of those factory defects that got out. Gadget also mentioned he had one of these wobbly crank pulley issues on his 3rd gen 4Runner. So far 170k+ miles no real issues other than annoying vibration and excessive noise from the accessories vibrating with the AC on.

It just is what it is.

 

Now that I have re-re-reread this thread, mine has the same symptoms as in the vid, however it matters not if the ac is on. It happens constantly as the pulley is always rotating. Louder & more wobble under load. My guess is that would be bearing.

Wouldn’t this cause the symptoms to happen whether the ac was on or not? Or maybe it just becomes more evident since it is working harder?

 

Your issue is more than likely the pulley bearing on the AC compressor.

But no. It’s hard to describe. You’d have to look at what’s going on with mine and understand how the AC compressor works and it will make more sense. To be fair all the accessories are taking up some of that orbital movement and the belts are taking up some as well. But when that clutch kicks on it grabs that pulley off center and adds a load.