legacycentral bbs

So i was watching my engine run, and all the sudden, right before my eyes, one of my pulleys quit turning!!! I envisioned a horrible sound as my valves bent, and I was forced to buy a geo to get around(i'm broke). I ran and turned it off asap. Upon closer inspection, the pulley that quit turning was actually for my AC compressor. I think...


If so, will it cause a problem to just remove this belt completely, my ac hasnt worked since 94...

If the belt's just now slipping around the compressor's pully, I'd think about removing the belt to avoid any complications. . .

well, it turns now. it just quit momentarily

if it was just the front part of the compressor it is supposed to do taht, it cycles on and off, but if it was the belts you should get them replaced, i think i remember you saying that they were in bad condition or something. Your valves wouldn't bend anyway since our engines are non-interference.

If the pulley actually stopped you would hear the belt squealing very loudly. Otherwise it was probably just the magnetic clutch disengaging. If it doesn't work, you might as well pull the belt anyway.

Steve

That is the air conditioning compressor, yes. What you see on the front is the clutch, though, not the pulley itself, which is behind it. If you remove the belt guard above it you can see the pulley, where the belt goes around it.

I'm sure it was just the clutch disengaging. It cycles on and off to maintain an appropriate refrigerant temperature. Watch any Subaru with the air conditioning on and it'll do it. The pulley's actually still turning with the engine; the compressor isn't.

yeah, it was probably just the clutch. But...... If your AC hasnt worked since 94, then why was it running? did you have the switch on MAX AC, AC, HEAT DEF, or DEF? Just wondering....

If you're not planning on fixing the AC ever, you could just take the whole compressor out along with some of the other AC components to make the car a little lighter.

Just for the sake of thoroughness, I agree that it's probably just the A/C clutch disengaging. If the belt was slipping, you'd hear/smell it.

Why is the clutch running if the AC isnt on?

Sounds like the AC relay may be stuck and you are constantly running AC even with the vent off. Had this happen on an f-150 once. The owner said his idle jumps up and down randomly but the car ran otherwise. Come to find out his AC had been running for 6 months straight!

The other bad thing about this is that your fans are always running when the AC is on. Thats a large drain, especially knowing that our alternators are a weak point on the vehicle.

Doesn't the a/c compressor turn on and off even with the a/c button not on? Or doesn't it turn on when the defrost is on?

The AC only runs when you are in the AC or defrost positions. Otherwise the core is warm.

You can tell when the AC is active, even if the clutch isnt running, because the fans always run (even with thermo closed).

gotcha

thats why i asked her why it would be running? maybe she had the switch in an AC or DEF position

Andrew

Killer Flame design btw

It was on defrost. That could be why.... I dont think i'm gonna touch it, I'm swapping out the motor anyway.

You remind me of my wife. She asked why the VCR made noise sometimes. After asking her the right questions I realized the noise coincided with the timer I set up to record her TV show

ciper - what's wrong with our alternators? 235K and counting...

Maybe you guys should take out the rice stereos!

Steve

I didnt know ac ran when the defrost was on...

thats different than not knowing that your vcr is recording

You wouldn't probably notice if the A/C never worked. When it works you can see the idle change when you turn on defrost. They probably did that to keep the air dryer, although I find the defrost in these cars isn't as good as my old '84's which didn't have A/C.

Steve

evolutionmovement: Seeing so many idle problems caused by them, replacing a couple myself and subaru themselves even had a recall on second generation legacy. I bet many board members are driving around with bad alternators and dont even know it.

Guess I'm lucky, then. My headlights don't dim and the car starts in -30F. Maybe my car just loves me more.

Steve

my car loves me too. 207k miles worth

235k worth of love here!

Steve

whoa. Sorry for thread revival - but my legacy just crapped out, so searching as much as i can on bending valves.

Sorry - but how the hell does a jamming AC belt cause valves to bend??????

it doesn't. she was mistaken. you see, way back in the day when laurel was new, she had many questions. and now she has many answers. she thought it was the timing belt or timing belt related.

on some cars, the ones with interferance engines, when the timing belt breaks/skips really bad/ or stops spinning the valves no longer extend and retract causing the pistons to strike the valves resulting in very bad things and broken valves.

our engines are non interferance engines. meaning when the timing belt breaks, nothing really bad happens. the car will just stop running and slow to a stop. well that and have your timing way off.