AC Bypass: Need Bolt for Pulley

[BrunchWizard]

I have a 2010 2.3L Duratec 4 cylinder XL Ford Ranger. I've had a whole sleugh of issues with the AC system over the past year; it stopped working, recharged it, worked again for a little while, turned out had a leak, emptied the system and replaced the accumulator and various o-rings and valve stems, worked fine for a while...). Then it failed again a few days ago, and it would actually stall/almost stall the engine when the AC compressor would try to kick on, indicating a clutch failure of some kind. At first I was like, okay I guess I just keep running it and don't run the AC or defroster. However, less than two days ago, it started making a slight "whirring" noise, which got progressively much worse after a day, especially audible after ignition. Upon inspection of the running motor, it clearly seems to be a round metal plate vibrating just in front of the AC compressor pulley, and multiple opinions I've sourced tell me that the AC clutch could be undergoing a failure of some kind, and if it seizes, it would shred the serpentine belt and cause some kind of catastrophic failure. Also of interesting note, the compressor clearly seems to have been replaced at some point before I bought the truck used 5ish years ago... it's not the stock compressor, or so I was told at some point. ANYWAYS, though, all of that was just to tell the tale. Everything below is more what this post is about.

I went and got a mechanics opinion yesterday, and he suggested I just get a shorter serpentine belt to bypass the AC compressor. Seemed simple enough... I overnighted the belt, and in my naivety I neglected to research this situation much further, and discover this morning that I need to install an idler bypass pulley/AC delete pulley... otherwise, the belt doesn't clear itself between the alternator and the fan clutch. Okay, SEEMS simple enough...

However, the issue I'm now having (and am hoping to find someone on the forum who has dealt with this exact situation) is the pulley itself... I've been combing the internet (not unlike combing the desert in Spaceballs) for the pulley. There seem to be a whole galaxy of different assemblies, many of which clearly won't work... I *think* I've found the appropriate bypass pulley (I measured the diameter from the center of where it would bolt on, it definitely clears the AC compressor pulley, and the shorter serpentine belt should fit when I pull the tensioner back and install it), but it doesn't come with a bolt to install it to the aluminum extrusion where it needs to be placed, as indicated by the belt diagram on the rim of the hood. I've done a lot of different search engine inquiries, but haven't yielded a silver bullet... can someone let me know if they can link a bolt for this pulley?

Failing finding the bolt, I may attempt to disassemble the AC pulley and replace that clutch component of the compressor... but I really would just rather bypass the component entirely until I can drive up to my engineer brother in Seattle so he can diagnose it more thoroughly.

It seems strange to me that Ford would build a bypass contingency into the motor (as clearly indicated by the dotted circle for a bypass pulley and the existence of an extrusion to mount said pulley), but then after a long, wild goose chase, a simple kit to execute the bypass cannot be found readily from any Ford catalogs or from various other part warehouses. They all seem to be these pulley assemblies with weird 3-bolt brackets that won't fit (but come with various bolts), or pulleys like the one I'm picking up that don't come with a bolt. I think I also saw some internet suggestions that one could buy the tensioner assembly for the serpentine belt and just pull the bolt and pulley from that, but I didn't see any confirmation that that actually works...

The pulley I ordered and am walking to go pick up in a couple of hours is pictured below. It's a Murray idler pulley, part # 2330170

Update: so I’ve picked up the pulley. It obviously needs some kind of shoulder bolt, with a sleeve that’s three-quarter inch diameter, half inch depth, and then the appropriate length and thread pitch shank, I’m assuming maybe some kind of washer as well. I just tried calling my local Ford dealership, their parts guy was just as flummoxed as I am. He couldn’t find any kit or pulley to accomplish this bypass. So I’m definitely hitting a wall with this course of action. Hoping someone knows something, anything

 

[franklin2]

Find out what thread diameter and pitch you need to fit the extrusion where you want to mount it. Take your best guess and buy a couple of metric bolts and see if they thread in.

Here's a site with some info. https://www.uacparts.com/legacy/Search/IP/Pulleys_Alt.html

 

[BrunchWizard]

So, this is the follow-up on what has happened thus far... hopefully this saves someone the headache I had all weekend from scouring the internet and calling various businesses and dealerships trying to dig myself out of this dumb hole.

BASICALLY... you cannot do the AC bypass with these trucks, unless you have a robust network of pick n pulls in your area that have the Rangers that didn't have AC systems, which would have those pulleys. I eventually got my hands on a diagram that had the specific Ford part number for the pulley I was searching for in the attached PDF. Ford discontinued the pulley long ago, and there are no aftermarket variants that I could find (with the possible exception of some very expensive $230+ conversion kits that come with other parts too, belts and brackets and bunch of other nonsense). Also, none of the AC bypass pulley brackets that replace the compressor itself are compatible. So again, literally the only way to bypass the compressor is by getting lucky at a pick n pull.

I was also unable to find a clutch and bearing kit for my specific AC compressor (some GDP aftermarket one that isn't the stock one), they are out of stock everywhere. I was able to find the compressor itself for a reasonable price on Rock Auto, however, and will be temporarily sourcing my clutch and bearing from that on the old one until I can go do a thorough diagnostic of the whole system... no need to throw a new compressor on if the whole system has metal shavings in it, since I don't actually know for sure what has caused all of this in the first place. All of this just to make sure the AC clutch doesn't stall and rip up my drive belt.