Dcofer

Ok so I've slowly been fixing my a/c system when I have time. It was destroyed, melted o rings and melted rubber pieces everywhere.

so here is my issue, the replacement part I got from kragen looks different and only came with instructions for ford and Toyota >.> but it seems to fit even though it looks different. The original one has a plug with two wires but the replacement has a wire that two wires with bolt crimps and one is Y to hav an exposed wire. How do I know which one goes where to splice into the plug? They are both black.

Pics: old




New





Any help is appreciated.

Dcofer

Bump

Im tryin to get this installed by Friday for a road trip.

freegdr

does the directions tell you which wire is ground

PatriotGT

Just a guess, but the one with the most metal showing looks to be the ground.
The other has way more insulation (shrink tubing) on it.
It's just a magnetic coil, that pulls in the clutch, try touching it to your battery
and see if it clicks. I bet it does either way

jnicewan

I agree with above, the one that has heat shrink is the power wire, its protected so it wont short to ground. A lot of compressors have a switch at the back of the compressor and that other spliced wire would power it up to. You need to cut and tape it though. You could hook it up to the batter, you wont hear a click unless its installed but you can test its magnetism with the clutch hub or a some type of metal.

Dcofer

Thanks for the replies I'll have to test that out on the battery and see how the magnet reacts. The next thing is figuring out which way to splice it to the factory harness.

I figured it wasn't going to too crazy since it's just a magnet. I mainly wasn't sure if it was directional.

When I get a chance to work on it I will post my results.

Again thanks

Edit: nope no designation for the wires in the directions. Hell the wire diagram says it's a yellow wire with a black stripe >.> both are blue with white or yellow stripes.

jnicewan

Cut the old wiring and connector off flush at the clutch coil, that will give you enough room to work with. Then you can probably cut the power wire off before that splice, cut both wires to fit or be a close match to the length of the factory coil. That way you can still use the old connector and mounting bracket.

ol"blue

Might be different but I looked at my '97 ZJ FSM wiring diagram, and there's a diode for the AC clutch. Can't post it, sorry.

Dcofer

When I get home from work I'll check that. I familiar with diodes in non automotive electronics. But would this cause a problem if if wire backwards?

When I get home ~4 I'll take a look at the wiring diagram and look for that. However the last time I looked at the diagram it didn't even have the same wired I saw so I might have been looking at the wrong one? I'll take a pic of it and try and post it.

This is turning into a pita haha. This AC better work after being charged or I'm going to be a little upset haha

freegdr

id splice the plug off the old clutch so wiring harnees on xj stays stock

Dcofer

yup that's what I'm hoping to do, for both looks and ease of disassembly later if needed.

So I got home from work and went straight to testing this thing.

Equipment:

8v wall plug (closest I could get to 12v)
Fluke 87

Interesting note:
I tested the continuity of the wires and as expected the two crimped ends read OL on the meter. he odd part is the wire the Y's out to one bare end nd one crimped end (which I thought were the same wire) also read OL however the bare wire and the opposite crimped wire (non connected one) read 3.6ohms so somehow THEY are connected. So onward.

So I hooked up the + and - to the A/C clutch magnet and this is what I got for the reading on the fluke. Still no magnetism:


so I took this odd bare wire:


And "shorted" the Y connection and Boom reading 4.3ish volts and the magnet holds a screwdriver to the top no problem:


However if I swap the power and ground and do not connect the bare wire I get -4.3ish volts so I guess that wire acts as a switch for some vehicles. Now all that's left is to put it together and test it to check the wiring and then adjust it as needed.

thoughts are still welcome because if someone had better ideas then just hooking it up I will gladly listen to them

Dcofer

Ok so I installed the new clutch today and it fit together nicely. The air gap is eyeballed for now but since it's not connected it's not too important yet.

I'm still trying to figure out the wiring but the engine starts, pulley turns, and clutch stays disengaged. Which makes it drivable at least and everything seems solid.

Here are some pics of it installed. Once I figure out the wiring I'll post again so other people can know.

Clutch and pulley:




And the wires pulled out the way and electrical taped to prevent damage while not attached:




If i shouldn't be attaching pics let me know and I'll switch them to photobucket later. It's just easier from my phone this way.