'12 AC Clutch Fail?

[CCS86]

Hi guys,

How likely is it that the AC compressor clutch only fails?

I was driving home yesterday slowly, AC was blowing cold. Then I heard kind of a "wooooooooooooooo" noise. I immediately turned off the stereo, still there. I thought it was something drive line, shifted into neutral, still there. After about 8 seconds it tapered and was gone.

At that point I noticed the AC was blowing warm. Back in my driveway, nothing was leaking out, and no condensate was dripping. I came back to it this morning, had it idling, then kicked on the AC. I watched the compressor, and it was spinning but it appeared very slow. I thought it might be an optical illusion, but over the next 30 seconds or so, it slowed to a stop.

I'm trying to decide how likely it is to just be a clutch problem, vs the compressor failing and overcoming the clutch. The connector is still intact.

Thoughts?

 

[CCS86]

I looked a little bit closer at it, and found that when I turn AC on, the outer portion of the compressor pulley begins to spin (marked in green), but it's the center section which rotated slowly then stopped (marked in red).


Any ideas?

 

[86GT351]

Sounds like the Clutch has gone bad. How many miles on the car? I know the parts are available but I have never been a fan of replacing just the clutch assembly. Always seems to be a compressor concern not too far after. Get Ford Parts if you choose to just replace. the Clutch Assembly. Will be 3 pieces needed.

 

[Coosawjack]

The clutch has shims behind it and you can remove one or more to lessen the gap the magnet has to overcome.......I've done it on every FORD I've owned...same symptoms!!

Give it a shot.....nothing to lose!!

 

[KonaMustangGT]

I had that happen to me a couple of months ago (of course right after installing the Borlas). I also noticed a small ring of melted rubber where the outer part of the compressor clutch meets the rubber damper joining it to the inner part of the clutch. I had the dealer fix it. In my case the A/C compressor itself was okay. There is a clutch service kit (pulley/coil/clutch), but pulling the pulley from the compressor has to be done off the car (evac and recharge).

Shimming won't help if the clutch has already failed. It is something that should be checked when installing the new compressor clutch.

 

[CCS86]

Okay, finally got back in town and yanked the inner clutch portion. It is for sure toast. Rubber separating.

I'm wondering whether replacing that alone would be a bad idea. I have the whole clutch pulley assembly, but obviously replacing everything will take longer.


I popped the new clutch disk in for a test. It seems to work well. Everything is locked together with the AC running, and it blows cold. Sweet!

When I turn off the AC, it mostly disengages, but not completely. The clutch very slowly rotates in little pulses. Only a few RPM I'd say.

Is that a sign of a worn out pulley, or it needing shims?

 

[travelers]

Replace the whole clutch at the least.

 

[86GT351]

There are 3 pieces to the clutch assembly that need to be replaced.

 

[Gabe]

A/C issues seem to be quite popular on the '11-'14 cars.
A lot of them are failing when they get about 3-4 years old.
There's a large thread on this over on mustangsource ...

 

[CCS86]

Replace the whole clutch at the least.

There are 3 pieces to the clutch assembly that need to be replaced.

The service manual says that each individual component can be replaced as needed. So long as there is not excessive grooving/wear in the other components.

It is pretty clear on my system, that eventually the outer portion of the clutch shifted and closed the required air gap. With it now rubbing against the pulley and generating additional heat, the failure is no surprise.

Can anyone explain to me why our pulley's band of friction material is flush with the surrounding metal faces, and the mating face of the clutch, has no raised section?

It seems that by just cleaning it up, and shimming the new clutch for air gap has everything functioning well again.

 

[rjyote]

Remove the belt and report back the effort required to turn the compressor pulley by hand. That would be very telling.

 

[CCS86]

Having never attempted the removal/install of a compressor belt on these engines, how much of a pain is it? Best methods for each?

Also, how likely is it to coax the pulley off without a puller? Some are easier than others.

 

[rjyote]

The belt must be cut off. The pulley is held on with a snap ring.

 

[Gabe]

Yeah there's no factory tensioner on the Coyote AC belt.
Special tool to get it on there, have to cut it off to remove it.

 

[LB75]

I'm having a similar issue with my AC. Was working great until today, now it's just blowing ambient air. The compressor seems to working fine, I recorded the below video while the wife turned the AC on and off just so I could ask you guys if this is indeed what I should be seeing.

http://vid77.photobucket.com/albums...trim.6E44AD1F-0466-47F3-A2FA-E9FFC844129C.mp4

 

[JDos1]

Yeah there's no factory tensioner on the Coyote AC belt.
Special tool to get it on there, have to cut it off to remove it.

I wouldn't consider a zip tie a special tool.....

 

[CCS86]

Can the pulley be coaxed off, or is a puller mandatory? It's just a tight slip fit right? New pulley does not need to be pressed on?

 

[86GT351]

I'm having a similar issue with my AC. Was working great until today, now it's just blowing ambient air. The compressor seems to working fine, I recorded the below video while the wife turned the AC on and off just so I could ask you guys if this is indeed what I should be seeing.

http://vid77.photobucket.com/albums...trim.6E44AD1F-0466-47F3-A2FA-E9FFC844129C.mp4

Could be a Blend Door Actuator

 

[rjyote]

Can the pulley be coaxed off, or is a puller mandatory? It's just a tight slip fit right? New pulley does not need to be pressed on?

Remove the snap ring and it will come off by hand. New pulley does not need to be pressed on.

 

[rjyote]

I'm having a similar issue with my AC. Was working great until today, now it's just blowing ambient air. The compressor seems to working fine, I recorded the below video while the wife turned the AC on and off just so I could ask you guys if this is indeed what I should be seeing.

http://vid77.photobucket.com/albums...trim.6E44AD1F-0466-47F3-A2FA-E9FFC844129C.mp4

Video is pretty much useless. Get a cheap manifold gauge set like this and report back the low and high side pressures.