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Since I've had my car, the HVAC has always not worked properly. I can turn the blower up but not down (until a key cycle), the temperature is basically binary, and the blend door actuator doesn't function properly even after I replaced it and the air only comes from the front four vents. The compressor clutch has made noise since I owned the car (the past 6k miles) but since I though it was just cabin blower noise, I didn't think much of it. Yesterday, my car decided it wanted to be more racecar, and the compressor clutch came off (I found it sitting on my undertray). Since that's happened, obviously the AC no longer works at all, and the driver side air only blows heat no matter what temp I set it to (the HVAC system is off, but some air still comes through the vents as normal and it's rather uncomfortable in the summer).
Now, a couple questions.
1. Would the car have been able to detect an issue with the comp clutch and throw itself into a (HVAC) limp mode? I know the clutch is electronic, I'm wondering if the car has that diagnostic capability.
2. Is it possible to re-attach the clutch or is it safe to assume that the input shaft is screwed? What's a decent way to check?
I'm trying to avoid replacing the compressor since the job sounds like hell and it still put out cold air until the clutch went.
Any assistance is appreciated.
When the clutch was disconnected on mine it didn't do anything odd, other than (obviously) not work... so that shouldn't stop it from putting the blend door all the way to "cold" or at least "not hot".
You can replace just the clutch if the shaft on the compressor isn't screwed up
How does the clutch actually attach to the shaft on the comp? The shaft has splines, but the clutch that fell off doesn't, just a 1/2" diameter slot with a 1/4" diameter hole at the end. I'm trying to figure out if I can replace just the clutch, but if I can't, is the comp the same on the LS2/3 as it is on the LS7, or is it different for the dry-sump engines?
Also @jonjoy, I know it wasn't clear in the original post, but the compressor worked fine until the clutch fell off. The HVAC issues the car has are electrical, the system did still put out cold air.
Just to follow up, I figured out why my compressor clutch fell off...
Something rather large and heavy must've had a slight disagreement with the compressor pulley. The pulley had about 1/4" play (wiggle) which over time took out the clutch and sheared the bolt holding in on. Fun times.
05-21-2019, 07:06 PM
Compressor Clutch Fell Off
