[jeffcoslacker]

The pulley on the A/C compressor is a strange assembly. The pulley itself rides independantly on it's own bearing, so it turns idly when the system is off.

Then there is an electromagnetic clutch, when power is applied, it snaps a plate solidly against the pulley, just as a car's clutch plate is clamped against the flywheel by the pressure plate when you let the clutch out. So the pulley is actually a pulley and a flywheel.

Disassembly requires special tools and know-how. The only reason you'd want to do that is if the clutch were burnt out for some reason, or there were a leaking front seal causing it to slip or loose refrigerant.

Either way, most shops would rather just replace the whole compressor than fool with trying to repair the existing unit.

What I said about finding the right one, I remember form working in a parts dept, we'd have someone order an A/C comp for a Honda Civic or Accord, and it might list 3 possibilities for that model/year.

We would usually just get them to send it up to us so we could physically match it, and verify they were getting the right one. Another one might look very similar and even be the same manufacturer, but have subtle differences that didn't become apparent until the tech would try to install it.

Lots of times we'd have three different possibilities and STILL not have the right one, and have to get it from a dealer or A/C supply warehouse.

I just don't want you to end up buying a used or reman unit that you can't return.

There is so much mechanic-error and misdiagnosis returns on A/C compressors, some companies are really cracking down on warrantee. Some require documentaion that the reciever/dryer (a filter) was changed and the system was flushed before the compressor was installed.

This is because when one starts to go bad, it usually is pumping metal shavings into the system that destroy the new compressor pretty fast if not removed from the system. They take one look into the returned compressor and see a bunch of metallic debris...no warrantee.

the second most common installer error is failure to add the recommended amount of the correct type of refrigernat oil into the compressor before running it. Lots of those come back siezed, and they won't take it in return.