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Date:         Mon, 11 Jul 2005 21:37:01 -0500
Reply-To:     Julia Schrenkler <juliaschrenkler@GMAIL.COM>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         Julia Schrenkler <juliaschrenkler@GMAIL.COM>
Subject:      Behold, another AC question. Compressor or clutch to blame,
              and how do I tell?
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1

Hi all,

This year has unfortunately seen very few trips (but plenty of in town running around) and has been decent weather. But now, now it is hot, and my formerly ice cold ac makes a distressing sound which seems to transmit through my fillings.

So I grabbed the Bentley and skimmed the archives, figured out where the compressor is, had Cindy fire up the engine while I watched and there was the noise. Great, found it, right where I was looking. Only I don't really know what the heck I'm looking at, or what I should be looking for. So here are some questions and I hope you can lead me to the path of a forehead-slapping simple fix as well as school me in the ways of the AC.

This is an '89 manual trans with factory air, in pretty good condition.

*The clutch part spins merrily - should it? I'm a newb and am not sure based on the Bent nor do I have the foggiest idea how this works. The clutch part actually seems slightly crusty but not ancient.

*There's a quarter-moon type casing between say, 7 and 2 oclock (going from memory) and it has a bit of oily smear on either side. Normal? Sign of impending doom? Otherwise the compressor and area is not unduly wet, dirty, nor show other signs of leaking.

*Not that I'd know what a bad ac smells like, but there's no weird smell - and I know how my engine smells when running happily.

*The belt is in good condition and at a tension that doesn't seem loose or overly cranked.

*There's no crazy shaking or other visible signs of distress in that area.

Thanks for any help gang,

-Julia '89 Westy Trip archives at http://www.wanderwagen.com


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