Finished - AC Clutch Replacement - Any BTDT

[Ben Swann]

After ordering tool in addition to the clutch, I was able to remove the assembly without
special tools anyway.  I'll have the tool since I paid for it already.  I would have
waited, but didn't want the job to drag out, so tried removal on a compressor I know was
trash and found it just needed more force, so that worked on the one in the car.  The
tool is supposed to work with a bunch of AC clutches, and may have helped, but not
necessary.

Anyway the front clutch piece does come off with coercion - I basically used a
combination of flat bar and mondo-pliers and worked it off.  Once that was done a
circlip holds the clutch rotor/pully assembly, which was trashed on my avant.  Then the
armature/field coil comes off with another C-clip.  The rotor and coil both came off
easily.

The new clutch was a Ford unit and different from Denso unit - they will not interchange
individual parts, but the whole assembly interchanges.  It is necessary to use the right
amount of shims and I found trial and error needed to find which worked.  It was a PITA
to get the rear C-Clip back on.

Anyway, clutch is working fine, but now the AC sounds like it is going south, so kind of
T'd I bought the clutch - around $250 from Advance Auto since I may need to replace the
Compressor.  I mainly did not want to let all my R-12 go.  I'll give a cold-shot and see
if the lube helps - it is definitely down on R-12, so I will just use Envirosafe to
recharge it and hopefully get a few more miles out of the unit.

Anyway the clutch is not that difficult to replace and the toolset is under $100 and new
clutch assy. under $280, and maybe less if you take the time to shop for it.

Ben

-----Original Message-----
From: George [mailto:sidman at webloq.com] 
Sent: Thursday, November 15, 2007 7:52 PM
To: 'Kneale Brownson'; 'Ben Swann'
Cc: quattro at audifans.com; 200q20v at audifans.com
Subject: RE: AC Clutch Replacement - Any BTDT

I have done this job more than once, and simply ground off the outer
shoulders of a standard puller to grab the clutch and pull it off. Not a big
deal.....

George Sidman
Chairman & Chief Technology Architect
WebLOQ, Inc.
2801 Monterey Highway
Monterey, CA  93940 - Suite H
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