A/C Grinding noise at Start up - Do I really need to do all this?

[Lemarque]

Months ago I posted that my 2008 FX4 would make a grinding noise when/because it was in 4wd at startup. Sorry, I can't find that post.

Well, a few months ago I began to think that maybe it was the AC compressor and not the 4wd. So I disconnected the power to the AC and have driven it many times and, voila! No grinding noise.

So now my question is, if my mechanic starts to disassemble the AC and finds that it is in fact the clutch, must he proceed to go thru all the steps that are detailed here:

I Hope I Can Avoid Doing All This

And if my lucks run out and this is what it takes, can anyone whose been unfortunate enough to have to pay to have the clutch replaced, give me some idea of the cost?

 

[Dirtman]

A good mechanic will have an AC recycling system. They can vacuum out all of the refrigerant and then put it right back in after rebuilding the clutch. That's if they even need to remove the compressor to remove the clutch in the first place. So to answer your question, no you wouldn't need to do about 90% of what is included in that tech article to replace the AC clutch. That is essentially for rebuilding the AC system from scratch. However if its not the clutch thats failing but internal components of the compressor, the system could be contaminated with metal bits which will require much more work.

 

[Lemarque]

A good mechanic will have an AC recycling system. They can vacuum out all of the refrigerant and then put it right back in after rebuilding the clutch. That's if they even need to remove the compressor to remove the clutch in the first place. So to answer your question, no you wouldn't need to do about 90% of what is included in that tech article to replace the AC clutch. That is essentially for rebuilding the AC system from scratch. However if its not the clutch thats failing but internal components of the compressor, the system could be contaminated with metal bits which will require much more work.

Thanks Dirtman.

Sometimes "I read it on the Internet" takes me down a rabbit hole.

Hopefully I caught it in time.

 

[wildbill23c]

A grinding from the AC compressor can be the compressor clutch, most times its not that much to replace the clutch, many I think just have a nut on the end of the shaft with the occasional C-Clip holding the clutch assembly on, which doesn't require evacuating the system to replace. The Ranger shouldn't be too bad to do, but most shops just want to sell you the whole compressor because its several hundred to several thousand dollars that they can charge you for the repair at that point rather than a simple part and an hour of labor, they want that huge bill with lots of labor involved that's what makes them the money is all the labor involved in a full on system evacuation, part R&R, and system recharge....but at that point they'll claim the compressor is shot, and they have to replace the entire AC system because that's a whole day's worth of labor, plus over-priced junk parts they'll use, etc....you get where that's going LOL.