13667

It appears that my AC compressor clutch and pulley assembly crapped out today. It started making a grinding noise with the AC off. When I checked under the hood the noise was coming from the compressor. I turned the AC on and the noise got louder. I got it home and pulled the serpentine belt off and then spun the pulley by hand and it sounds and feels like a bad bearing. The water pump, the alternator, the idlers, etc. all turn smoothly with no noise.

I thought about replacing the whole compressor. I looked on ALLDATA.com and saw the procedure to replace the clutch and realize I do not have the tools nor can I find a clutch local.

My question is this. Given that it appears to be the bearing associated with the clutch and pulley, is there reason for me to believe that this bearing failure would have caused any debris in the system? I believe the clutch and bearing can be replaced without evacuating the system, therefore I assume the system is not contaminated.

Anyone have experience with this?

Thanks.