AC clutch smoking

[goryr88]

93 MTX. When I have the ac or HVAC. on at all, the clutch starts throwing smoke off after a few minutes. Turn the HVAC off, and it quits. What's up with the ac? I've never seen this before. I'm guessing it's shot and needs replaced. Anybody else have this happen?

 

[yaycandy]

Just old. Time to hopefully just replace the clutch pulley or in most cases an AC rebuild. They seize up from not being used, if an AC compressor is ran daily it would last a very long time.

 

[Irish Pride]

The coil is probably on the way out. Does the compressor still work when on? Make any weird noises?

-Chad

 

[NoSlo]

Slipping clutch. Need to clean the surfaces of the pulley, and re-shim to specification.

 

[goryr88]

It works fine. No funny noises. Just smoking like something is burning up.

 

[Irish Pride]

Look at it while it's engaged and running and verify that the clutch isn't slipping like suggested above. If it's grabbing good then my guess is the Coil.

 

[jman1200]

If it is slipping is because:
- The load has increased => possible that compressor is going bad
- The clutch clearance has increased due to wear => might be possible to remove a shim and adjust the clearance but it might be burnt by now, so replace the clutch/pulley

Now, are you sure the clutch is slipping? I once had a pulley bearing go bad on a Mazda 626, it overheated to the point that the magnet/coil's resin melted creating a lot of smoke.

I do not know if the magnet/coil can be "weak", IMO it either works or not.

 

[tompumped]

I never realized the 10p15f compressor has a rubber bonded clutch. The car I finally started working on the rubber was melted and no longer holding. If the clutch is slipping it would cause it to melt the rubber.

I also had a nissan that ran out of oil and started burning the oil coating the outside of the compressor because it was overheating.