My Alero is producing a noise when the car is running. It sounds like if you were to put a handful of BB's in a pan and swish them around. If I run the AC the sound is gone. I took off the belt and spun the pulley on the AC this was the source of the noise. Is it best to replace the whole compressor or just the clutch beaings. How do you get to the compressor and do you need to disconnect the lines to the unit. What does it take to pull the clutch off. My local shop wants to replace the the whole unit for $500. It just seems the clutch bearings are bad. Please reply

I have a 2000 Alero 3.4. and just replaced the clutch bearing in the pulley. It cost me about $40 (Canadian) for the bearing and $10 to have a garage push out and replace the bearing in the pulley.

You will need a special puller to remove / replace the clutch.

I accessed it form the passenger side wheel well...removed the wheel and guarding.

Hope this helps