Well after 22 years it appears that my a/c compressor may be giving up the ghost.
looking for experience on best brand vs. price for replacement. I'm not planning on ever selling the Jeep so I'd prefer a quality replacement unit.
Clutch assembly is not seized yet but making a lot of noise and vibration when engaging....so I'm keeping it off now.
Thanks!

 

I've been happy with the Denso I put in 2 or 3 years ago.

 

I'll be following this, I think my clutch is failing. Lucky for me the Jeeps been in the garage all summer...

 

I put a brand new, not remanned, Napa one in my '00.
Don't use the AC much but seems to be OK. Going on 5 years now I think.
I did replace other lines and flush the system per the instructions so that my warranty on it would be valid.
I think I have a lifetime warranty, cause it is a new and not remanned one, with it but tough to tell. Might only be 3 years or 36K.
But one thing for sure they make you jump through hoops to warranty one.
At least when you read the warranty that is what it looks like. LOL.

 

yeah... I wouldn't put a reman on mine... only considering a brand new one.
I never really use it that much, maybe it was the change in environments that added to the mix... who knows... All I know for sure is that when I go to engage it now, it makes a very NOT good noise. Bearing is fine so it spins with no issues when disengaged. so I'm good for now. I was only using it for the defroster to keep my window from fogging up and it happened. First time it ever did that to me...and I was like damnnnn...that's not good. lol

 

Have you considered replacing just the clutch?
I put a new Chinese eBay clutch/pulley/coil kit in my pickup a couple years ago and it's been just fine. I think it only cost like $35 or something too.
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I was under the impression they were about the same price for just the clutch vs a compressor. I haven't researched much, and won't be doing it until I'm back at school where we have an A/C machine.

 

Yeah... I did know they had those for a lot of vehicles.... but also figure that if the compressor is 22 years old and part of the assembly is headed south... don't want to just stick a band-aid on it. just fix it right so I dont have to come back later and screw with it again. lol

 

It's definitely cheaper to get just a clutch kit. And wayyy less work too. You don't have to open the system.
Everybody has different budgets, time restrictions, and goals, but unless you have reason to believe there's more than just the clutch going bad that's the route I would take if it were mine!


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I'll be damned....I heard this the other night when coming home in the rain so didn't fully check it out.
i can repeat the issue on demand....but after investigation...it appears that it might be the electric fan making all that vibration and noise. It kicks in immediately when I turn the AC on. Maybe out of balance or motor going bad in it. Not sure. It's mounted tight but vibrates like it's going out of style......I've only used the AC really a couple of times in the winters for the defroster...I normally just do 2/70 ac style.
This happened after the GF wanted some real ac on the highway here....it worked fine...then 30 mins later after a trip to the store, needed the defroster because of the heavy rain and all hell broke loose with the noise.
If this is the real root cause.....any suggestions on what brand/model of replacement electric fan would kick butt?

 

I believe when I did mine I just went with one of those eBay Chinese made one...that was like 4 or 5 years ago and still going with no issues.

 

Been too busy to get back on in a bit here....but just to wrap up the thread....(for now...warding off Murphy)....lol...

I appreciate all the suggestions from everyone. I'm happy to announce that I did not have to go down that road to the end....
I found out that sure enough... when I checked out the auxiliary electric fan (that on my 99 comes on immediately with the a/c compressor).... It had a nice wide crack all the way across inbetween two of the fan blades. So when it kicked on the motor was fine, but fan portion itself was what was making all the noise.
Got an inexpensive replacement off eBay (we'll see how long that lasts)... with a little maneuvering I was able to make it fit...and now BOOM.... she's quieter than a church mouse.
It could've been cracked for a long time... so far even in this new southern holy heat environment she's in now.... she hasn't heated up enough for that alone to cause the old electric fan to come on.So praise God for that...and I always use my 2/70 ac... but the GF wanted some real ac on the way home....so before that, it could've been broken for ages and I never knew it....b/c I so rarely ever turn that on. Still has some cold air, but could use a recharge soon. think I'm gonna go pro on that one so I don't end up with moisture that could ruin the system in the long run.