1996 Air conditioning removal(sort of)

[terrapin24h]

Hi all--
Here's the situation: My father in law has a 1996 Buick century with a shot AC clutch- squeals like a stuck pig all the time, metal shavings on crossmember underneath it- Money is VERY limited, and i was thinking the cheapest way to fix it would be to simply take the AC compressor out of the belt run, by putting a belt on the thing for non AC equipped models of the car/engine, bypassing the ac compressor. I figured a wrecking yard or at worst a parts store would have what i need. Questions is, will this work? Obviously im gonna have to route the belt to all the other stuff(crank, steering, h2o pump, etc) Anyone done this before? Or am i spending more money by doing this and not just getting a new clutch for the compressor ? I've done a decent amt of wrenching in my time, but funny enough not on AC systems(truthfully none of mine ever broke) TIA for the comments

--chris

[GTP Dad]

You would be better off going to a wrecking yard and finding a new/used compressor that you can replace the old one with. I don't know what size engine you have but try this: http://www.car-part.com/ I found one for less than $80 at a wrecking yard in NY state. You will probably save time and money this way and nothing says you need to have it recharged!

[Flatrater]

All I would do is adjust the air gap on the AC clutch. Then see if the AC blows cold. You could fix your problem without buying any parts.

[GTP Dad]

I agree with you Flatrater but if he is throwing metal shavings all over then it may be too far gone for that to help. Of course it is worth a try!

[Flatrater]

You can always just replace the clutch which would be cheaper than the whole compressor. I have done several throwing metal shaving and I fixed them without any parts. Just depends on how long its been doing it.

[terrapin24h]

Originally Posted by Flatrater

You can always just replace the clutch which would be cheaper than the whole compressor. I have done several throwing metal shaving and I fixed them without any parts. Just depends on how long its been doing it.

Flatrater--
thx for the replies, can you jot a quick procedure for adjusting the air gap?(My FIL doesn't mind the idea of not having ac which is why i was thinking the belt route, just leave the compressor sit there dead) At this point it's been doing it a while(over two weeks) and he claims the noise is getting quieter(i'll assume that's because the innards of the thing are disappearing). I have another question: if i decide to just replace the clutch, can i tell if the compressor is locked up/shot by turning the shaft with a wrench or some channel-locks? My inclination would be that under normal conditions there's too much pressure there to man-turn it, right? I just don't want to get a clutch, come back put clutch on, re install to find out that the compressor is shot. Now i have to reverse what i did and go get a compressor. Any ways, if you guys could let me know what you think the best route is, i'll prob get roped into working on it this weekend, maybe sooner. thanks again!

[BuDog]

I think that all Century's come standard with A/C and you won't find a belt that will work correctly by bypassing the bad clutch/compressor. Probably better off getting a junkyard clutch and compressor that isn't seized up.

[96 GT]

For anyone else with this problem, you can use the diagram for running the belt without AC , but you need to get a belt for a buick SKYLARK with the 3.3 V6..I had the same problem while driving to Texas , so a quick fix was necessary. They didn't have a belt for the Century because they all came with AC standard. Hope this helps anyone else..

[kmarina]

I have a 1992 Buick Century 3.3 with a bad air compressor. I followed the diagram that shows a serpentine belt without an air compressor and used Goodyear Gatorback belt number: 4060735 6PK1865