A/C Shims...

[SHOkid13]

I will be doing my A/C Clutch Shim removal tonight. Any suggestions?

Acording to SHOTimes the writer only took out the smaller shim, does this work okay, or should I take out the larger shim? (or, do different vehicles have different shims and sizes?)

Thanks!!

 

[Mr Anonymous]

Why are you "removing" your A/C clutch shims? If you need to reset the air gap, then you'll need to add/remove the washerettes (my word) to get the proper gap.

 

[SHOkid13]

Why are you "removing" your A/C clutch shims? If you need to reset the air gap, then you'll need to add/remove the washerettes (my word) to get the proper gap.

My AC is cutting out after running for a short period of time on hot days. And, from what ppl here and on SHOtimes have said, all I need to do is remove a shim/washerette to get the gap closer so it will work again. Is that not right? What should the gap be?

Thanks!

 

[JLOSHO]

The SHOTimes post author gave .021/.036" as the desired air gap. You'll just need to add/remove shim washer combinations to get it right.

In my case, I measured something like .045" initially and removed 1 of the 3 installed washers to get back in range. Like the SHOTimes author, that has worked for me since then - circa 2002, 35K miles.

 

[SHOkid13]

The SHOTimes post author gave .021/.036" as the desired air gap. You'll just need to add/remove shim washer combinations to get it right.

In my case, I measured something like .045" initially and removed 1 of the 3 installed washers to get back in range. Like the SHOTimes author, that has worked for me since then - circa 2002, 35K miles.

My bad, I missed the top part for some reason. Thanks! I'll check that tonight.

I appreciate the help!

 

[SHOkid13]

One more question: Is there anything wrong with just engaging the clutch to loosen the nut? Has anyone done that successfully?

 

[SHOkid13]

YAY! It works beautifully now!

I took out one of the two shims it had. One shim was .015" and the other was .035". When I measured the gap before it was about ~.048", so i figured it would be better to take the smaller one and keep it well within specs. After tightening it up it came to .032". I will probably have to do it again, but it should work for the next .012" or so.

Thanks for the help!

 

[Force4]

Thanks you guys!! My sons 93 ATX was suffering from intermittent A/C clutch engagment. Using my multimeter I had 13 volts at the clutch but no engagement. With the car running and the AC turned on I could very carefully push on the front of the clutch with a broom stick and get it to engage for for a short period of time. Local shop said it would need at the minimum a new compressor, freon replacement (R-12 is expensive and in Wisconsin you can't even purchase R-12 or R-134 over the counter) and would cost at least $500.00 and up to $1000.00 . Every time I go to people with an AC problem they always blame it on a leak somewhere in the system. Since These guys wanted to charge us more to fix the AC than we paid for the car we decided to at least look at it ourselves We measured the gap of the a/c clutch and found it to be about .045" . We removed the clutch and removed one of the shims to get the gap back in spec per numerous postings and the A/C now works like a champ. We be riding in comfort this summer thanks to you guys.