jeephume

Hi everyone,

1999 XJ classic. I just recharged my AC and for the first time have cold AC. I had never seen my AC clutch work until now. I just started her up and the clutch is making a very loud squeaky sound. It gets worse as I rev the engine. I didnt have a squeak before on anything even when using the heater.

Im thinking its the AC clutch bearings and not a loose serpentine belt as thats been running squeak free since I got the XJ. Im guessing putting WD40 or some kind of lubricant on it isn't going to solve the clutch issue. I also noticed that my volts dropped quite low when I turned the AC on immediately after starting the car. If I let it run and then turn on the AC the volts didnt drop so low.

Any thoughts?

P.s can you get a new clutch alone rather than the whole compressor?
Thanks!

odgreen

Clutch is done. It's rare to be able to find just a clutch nowadays.

jordan96xj

If you are not entirely certain, don't be too quick to rule out the belt. If it is old, glazed, or even just a little under the specified tension, it is really common for it to squeal, screech, and chirp when turning the AC on. Now that the compressor is actually engaging, this would be pretty normal. It will especially make noise when accelerating. If you have sprayed any type of of lubricant, including wd-40 near the belt path, it would only make the belt problem worse.

I just went through this myself after replacing my belt. I didn't have a belt tension gauge, so I just used common sense to set it, but not too tight. Everything was quiet and fine until I turned on my AC. It made a ton of noise. I decided to pick up a tension gauge and check it, turns out it was only a little loose, but it was enough to make a difference. When I set it to the correct tension, the problem was corrected.

In short, don't rule out the belt just because it was quiet before getting the AC running. The AC compressor adds considerable drag to the belt path when the compressor is engaged.

revolver

did you put oil in the compressor when you recharged it?

jeephume

I didn't no. What kind of oil shall I put in? I took the car out for a drive and after about 10 min I turned the AC on and there was not any squealing at all for the rest of the drive, I tried it a few times and it was all good. I have a feeling the belt is too loose and I should tighten/replace.

uvatv

X2

uvatv

Getting out a little from the noise issue... Do you recharge the a/c because it loss the charge? Do you find and repair the leak? If you didn't, you will be adding more refrigerant soon.

jeephume

I recharged because I had no cold air at all. All of the refrigerant had gone. I used a recharge product that had dye in it so you can spot leaks. I haven't seen any yet so I think the original refrigerant had just ran out or escaped through a small leak that I have yet to find. I have a gauge so I will check to see if the pressure has dropped.

uvatv

If you are talking about a green dye, you must use an uv light and yellow glasses to see any leaks. As you may know, loss of refrigerant equals leak. If you can't find any leaks around the condenser, lines, compressor or receiver it might be possible to be a leak in the evaporator coil. If the leak is on the evap you will eventually know because of a strange smell coming out the a/c vents.