pmihaltian

I am having some trouble getting my A/C compressor off. Seems that there are three mounting bolts all of which I have loosened. The lower right bolt is out, but the top bolt hits on the valve cover and the front bolt hits on the front clutch assembly. I can remove the passenger side valve cover to get the top bolt out, but I'm not sure about the front bolt.

Are there any tricks to getting these rascal bolts out? Any help will be appreciated.

0Paul Ruggeri

The bottom bolt has part of the head ground off, so when you turn it the right way it will just clear the pulley.

Whitecloud

I put the same thread on today. Unbelievable. My mounting bracket broke and that is why my compressor needs to come off. How about you? Tell me if you got the compressor off and what steps I might be missing or what bolt. Good luck and keep us informed. Todd

JrRifleCoach

Not an easy chore. But it is do-able.

Loosen ALL the bracket mount bolts as well. Then find the spot where the upper rear bolts are loosest, and start shifting the comp body until the front bolt will slide out.

You'll find that its more than just three bolts to get this beast off.

rodj

The long bottom bolt will only rotate when the bolt head is against the compressor; as it unwinds it binds against the pulley. The only way to allow it to turn is to loosen the 2 bolts holding the bracket to water pump so the whole assembly can come forward until the bolt is out of it's thread.
As you have to loosen the nuts on the water pump studs you may as well remove complete assembly and play with it on the bench

Whitecloud

Thanks, are there nuts as well that must be removed. Like the two on the bottom bracket. Does anyone know exactly how many bolts including the studs on the water pump do I have to remove. Thanks again for all your help for a rookie like me.

rodj

You just undo the nuts on the waterpump studs and slide the bracket off without disturbing the WP.
Disconnect any compressor braces , remove the 2 nuts , undo the long bolt at bottom of compressor while pulling whole lot foward until bolt comes free.
Slide off WP studs and you have the whole lot out.

Whitecloud

I can't get the bottom bolt out. I have all the other bolts off. How the H#!! do I get it off? What size wrench and how? Is it almost directly underneath the Pulley, what's the trick? The Vette is kicking my butt. Final call for help.

JrRifleCoach

Like we said that bolt is a torq head right? It has a flat ground on the head to allow that little bit of clearance around the a/c pulley.

Line up the flat and pull it out. It aint easy so take it slow.

Drinking heavily helps too!

rodj

There is not enough room between the compressor face and the clutch for the bolt to be undone fully without moving the whole assembly forward using the method I outlined above as bolt is wound out.

Obviously bolt will only come out past the flat on the clutch AFTER you undo it .

pmihaltian

The bottom bolt is a Torx 40 and I had to use a wobble socket extention to get to it properly. Now I have it very, very loose, but still can't get it to come out. It was so damn hot yesterday in my garage (99 degrees) that I could not stay out there more than a couple of hours. Soooooo, I'll try again later today to find the flat edge on the front Torx bolt, line it up and try to slip it out that way.

Also, I'm not sure yet, but I think the fuel lines go between the mounting bracket and the compressor which, if I am right, the lines will have to come off to get the mounting bracket off. I'll look closer today and see if this is actually correct. Its just so damn hot here this time of the year !

More later....

rodj

Correct

pmihaltian

OH, YOU GUYS ARE GREAT !

I lined up the flat spot and out it came. This neat little trick is not in the GM Shop Manual and I would have never figured it out on my own as the bolt is under the compressor and out of view without a mirror. The Torx bolt is actually a #45 and the wobble socket extention which allows you to get a good straight fit on the bolt is available at Harbor Freight for about $8 for a complete set. Here is a photo of the rogue bolt FYI.

Again, thanks for all the great help. I would never be able to restore this Corvette without this Forum.

Da Mail Man

greetings all,

...was up north ;last week and began to change the blown compressor in my brothers car (86)...at that point i realized that the compressor i shipped him many years ago was a v-belt styled pulley instead of the serpentine style it calls for....

(the compressor blew possibly because the fan(s) - at least the aux fan on the outside of the radiator, doesn't/didn't come on when in the ac position and with the "lp" switch jumped out for test purposes. we replaced the relay for fan but got no further).

..at that point, the job ended as i never got to the point of getting the brackets loose for compressor removal....my question is, is it possible and how difficult is it to change out the pulley from the existing compressor to the "v-belt replacement" compressor...

......Thanks Again!

Whitecloud

Yes, I finally got the compressor off! What a pita. Now I have to get the bracket out, it looks like I will have to take the fuel line off to get it off. Thanks again for all your help. I will let you know when I get it all put back together. The bracket should be here Monday.

rich653

After reading this post I'm sure hoping my compressor doesn't sh-- the bed. Good luck getting them back together

pmihaltian

I have not tackled the mounting bracket yet. Let me know if you have any problems getting the two fuel lines off and out of the way.

johnnycobra

Im right in the middle of taking my compressor bracket off to remove my water pump. now at least I have a way to get there thanks to you guys

dsandmire

WOW--does this bring back bad memories--the bolt in question on my 87 had the Torx head stripped so I had to drill it a bit and use an easy-out.

rodj

You can remove compressor bracket with the compressor intact as one unit after you have disconnected the fuel lines.
A/c lines are long enough to lay unit to the side so you can remove the water pump