Can I drive car with faulty air con compressor?

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granada, Jan 1, 11:22pm
Its the age old question. How long is a piece of string.
franc123, Jan 1, 11:52pm
As long as it needs to be. You'd run the string all the way around the current route of the belt minus the section thats needed for the ac, then add in the shortcut, check that the string doesn't foul on anything, factoring in any belt deflection that might occur when its running,measure the string then go to an auto parts store and ask for example a 6PK1030 belt, the 6 being the number of ribs in the belt and 1030 being the length of belt in mm. Dead simple. If that wasn't possible and you wanted to remove the compressor permanently it wouldn't be hard to make up a right angle bracket, out of say 10mm plate to bolt in place of it, and bolt an idler pulley of comparable size to the compressors clutch pulley to it, in a position that simullates where it was, that way you could reuse the standard drive belt.
jewellednz, Jan 3, 7:32pm
No you can't bypass and I am not buying a shorter belt etc i am a female how would I know what to do lol. Just waiting until can get the part for it.
jewellednz, Dec 30, 11:01pm
Car was making a funny noise so went to mechanic who said the air con compressor needs replacing. Cant get it replaced for at least a week with the holidays and wreckers being shut etc. I really need to use my car this week, can I use it and just not use the air con! Mechanic said its to dangerous but I asked another mechanic and they said it will be fine.
stevexc, Dec 30, 11:03pm
Does it make the funny noise with the air con off!
intrade, Dec 30, 11:04pm
aircon compressor hardly ever worth to replace, the funny noise is more like the clutch bearing of the aircon compressor, as it wont run when the aircon is off. if it makes no noise with aircon off then just unplug the clutch power from the aircon compressor so it wont engage no more.
edangus, Dec 30, 11:08pm
In older cars, I have always just bought a smaller belt and dropped the compressor out of the loop but leave it there for when and if I or next owner decides to fix.
gadgit3, Dec 30, 11:13pm
If the ac has it's own belt then remove it and your good to go. If it shears a belt then fit a shorter one to romove ac from the system. I wouldn't drive the car too far with it making noises as if it blows to bits and takes out the water pump or alt then your stuck
meathead_timaru, Dec 30, 11:17pm
x1
If it's the clutch bearing, it'll make noise all the time when the A/C is switched off and some of the time when the A/C is switched on. If it's a compressor problem, it'll make noise some of the time when the A/C is switched on and the clutch is engaged.

If it's the clutch bearing, best to bypass it with a shorter belt as suggested lest it bind or fall apart. If it's the compressor, just switch the A/C off.
trade4us2, Dec 30, 11:19pm
Mine had to be regassed as well as the bearing replaced. That cost a lot.
r15, Dec 30, 11:22pm
on the other hand, if you dont fix it, it will be hard to sell.

as an example of that- if it doesnt have functional A/C, i won't touch it as a buyer
jewellednz, Dec 31, 12:51am
Is in a ford mondeo 2002 and doesn't have it's own separate belt. Yes it makes the noise when air con is off. Just want to know if its safe to drive for now and won't do any further damage
intrade, Dec 31, 12:57am
replace the aircon clutch bearing then thats all you need to do to fix it.
intrade, Dec 31, 1:03am
does the aircon still put out cold air! and is the noise gone when aircon is on maybe
meathead_timaru, Dec 31, 1:05am
Just to clarify your ambiguous answer, it makes the noise all the time it's off and only some of the time when it's on!

Then it's just the compressor clutch, not the compressor itself. But driving it could certainly do further damage. But using the A/C on its coldest setting with the windows down will reduce that because the clutch will be engaged a lot more.

Personally, I'd just get a shorter belt to bypass it for now if that can be physically done.
4piggy, Dec 31, 1:33am
not safe to drive as ac pulley may seize causing car to stop or belt to burn out leaving you stuck on side of the road, on mondeo it will probably be seized compressor that would have caused ac clutch to slip and over heated pulley bearing, if thats the case a s/hand compressor is probably best option but system would need to be flushed before regassing system, best to take to ac specalist to check out
llortmt, Dec 31, 1:54am
Can you use it! Yes
Should you use it! NO
The belt also drives the water pump, ultimately you risk destroying the engine.
jewellednz, Dec 31, 2:17am
Ok so sounds like I shouldn't drive it.
elect70, Dec 31, 3:17am
Yepclutch bearing, unless itsscreaming itwontseize up in hurry, just worn . Drive it or assuggestedbypass it with smaller beltuntil can get itfixed . They will have to degas it & remove to replace the bearing .
kazbanz, Dec 31, 3:30am
Jewelled -to be christal clear here. AS THE CAR ISno you should NOT drive it.
BUT remove the belt and fit a shorter belt that doesn't go around the Air con pulley and you could drive the car to the other end of the country in perfect safety--be it HOT safety. incidently the heater will still work.
laneyjan, Dec 31, 6:09am
can you bypass the A/c pully on a Mondeo! I cant on a Falcon.the serpentine belt uses A/c pully at the other side to complete the circle.
Intrade is correct.if you dont want A/c fixed at this time just get the bearing replaced and regass later
llortmt, Dec 31, 6:34am
Yes, I doubt Kaz has really thought it through, on a diesel you'd certainly have to also miss an idler bearing that the back of the belt runs on. All '02 Mondeos utilize an auto tensioner with a single serpentine belt. Can you imagine how many belts you'd need to buy to get the correct tension, even if it was in fact possible!
unbeatabull, Dec 31, 7:54am
It is common on Mondeo's to wear the clutch out and make noise . often it can be fixed just by resetting the clearance between the clutch and the pulley - tolerance (airgap) is around .5 to .7mm. A worn one is usually over 1mm air gap, whilst one too tight that will also create noise will be lease then .5mm.

Also common for the compressors to crap out too.
franc123, Dec 31, 8:01am
You'd only need to buy one, once you'd measured accurately how long it needed to be, and that the proposed shortcut to be taken by the new belt didn't interfere with any other components. The length of belt needed could easily be figured out with a piece of string.
franc123, Dec 31, 8:07am
You refer to 6cyl EF/EL models! You remove the compressor and fit the idler pulley and bracket from a non a/c GLi or Futura until you can repair or replace the compressor.