94 Pick-up “Air Conditioning Clutch

[Gymmy23]

I was just wondering how hard it would be for me to replace the Clutch on my Air Conditioning Compressor? I know I need a Gear Puller, but that’s about all I know.
I don’t want to replace the Compressor, just the Clutch, unless I have to. I know I will need to take the truck to a shop to have the Freeon removed if I need the compressor replaced, so I will just let them replace it then. Does anyone have a ball park amount of what a shop would charge me to replace the whole assembly?
Thanks for the Help.
Jim


P.S. Does anyone know the approximate amount of horse power and foot pounds of tork my 94 Chevy Pick-up has? It’s a stock 350 5.7 engine

[JaVeRo]

According to my chart
L05(engine code) 87-95 350(5.7L) HP 210@4000 rpm Torque 300fp@2800rpm

Can't help you with the ac.

James

[95Z71]

Are you sure its just the clutch? The bearing on my compresser went south,I thought it was just the clutch but it was only noisy when the clutch kicked in and I relized it was the compresser bearing. I unplugged the electrical connections till I can get a new one. Double check before you go through the hassel of changing the clutch and then find out that wasn't the problem.
Good luck, I hope its just the clutch.

[Gymmy23]

No. I am not sure it is just the clutch. But It makes noise as soon as I turn on the truck.
In fact, I can see the clutch pully move back and forth when the truck is running. It moved so much that it BURNED the plug right off. The end from the truck is still intacted, but the end that's in the clutch is the end that burned off. The clutch does not come on when i turn on the ac.

The ac still blows when I turn it on, but its not very cold. And the heat still works.

Also, Can i take off JUST the clutch without haveing the Freeon removed?? I know i have to remove it if i need to replace the compressor.

Thanks for the replys.

Man, I need to buy some more Horses for my truck.

[95Z71]

The first thing you have got to do is unplug the compresser before the thing shorts out and you end up with elecrical issues. From what your describing it sounds as if the clutch has gone bad when you pull the plug on the compresser take the belt off and move the pully around a bit. You should be able to tell right away where the trouble is. If it is the clutch I wouldn't recommend driving it untill you get it corrected. You know what happens if you lose the belt at highway speeds!

[2500HD4x4]

Replacing the clutch is easy if you have the right gear puller as you mentioned. You will not need to remove any AC refridgerant from the system (I think all systems are using R-134 these days instead of freon). Anyhow, there's one more thing that you'll need for the job. A spacing gauge to set the gap on the clutch plate when you reinstall the new one and snug it up towards the compressor body (or what would be the "flywheel" of your AC unit). I think the gap should be set from 0.0020" - 0.0030" (at least it was something like that on mine).

In all of this, I'm assuming that the setup on your '94 is the same as my '98. Can anyone else verify this?

Good luck.

[Gymmy23]

Thanks for all your replys.

This is a great site.

I am coming here with all my problems.

Well, Car problems anyway

Later