A/C compressor hums intermittently

[70NPORT]

Ever had the bearings in your A/C compressor wear out (and "hum") at moderate speeds? I THINK that is what may be happening as I am experiencing that same event intermittently. The motor (383) has a new Hayden fan clutch, and the belts are less than 6 mons old. All pulleys seem to be in great shape, alternator spins freely and looks to be in good shape. This only occurs while driving so my next guess would be the spinning A/C compressor.

 

[commando1]

Take a mechanic's stethoscope (or make one yourself with a length of hose) and pinpoint it first.

 

[bluefury361]

A/C humming.....

Ever had the bearings in your A/C compressor wear out (and "hum").


A "HUM" is not so bad...... If it starts singing show tunes.... Now THAT would be interesting. :Groaner:

 

[70NPORT]

Take a mechanic's stethoscope (or make one yourself with a length of hose) and pinpoint it first.

I will almost swear its the damn bearings in the compressor, BUT your correct, I should methodically confirm my hunch. I am just leaning that way as almost everything else hanging off the engine that spins while driving is new or near new except for the compressor; even the pulley wheel is new. Hmmm..If that damn fan clutch is defective I'm going after Hayden full throttle....it was made in the USA to boot.

 

[1978 NYB]

Compressor making a racket in front and the shock(s) rattling in the rear? That would make me crazy.

:Groaner:

 

[70NPORT]

Compressor making a racket in front and the shock(s) rattling in the rear? That would make me crazy.

:Groaner:

Well, the shock absorber noise isn't THAT bad, and it is intermittent. Others in my car don't notice unless I point it out. Sometime it happens and sometimes it does not, but I still want it to work properly since I thought I was paying for items that were not defective/damaged.

The compressor noise (if that is what it is) is also intermittent. It sounds like a bad fan clutch, but the clutch is fairly new (less than 6 mon's old). It is a Hayden clutch and it worked properly before I installed it. I will not say that it is not a possibility that the bearing are shot, but I think it is highly unlikely.

But yes, I don't want to hear anything under there except what is normal. It figures that all the gremlins come out a few weeks before Carlisle.

 

[1978 NYB]

I agree. Better than the gremlins showing up on the Penn Turnpike on the way to Carlisle.

 

[70NPORT]

I agree. Better than the gremlins showing up on the Penn Turnpike on the way to Carlisle.

Phhhhht! that would be a piece of cake. I once got stuck on the side of rt.72, in the Pine Barrens, on a cold winter night in February with another car. It was really COLD.............and scary.

 

[1978 NYB]

Phhhhht! that would be a piece of cake. I once got stuck on the side of rt.72, in the Pine Barrens, on a cold winter night in February with another car. It was really COLD.............and scary.

Especially scary with those Soprano types lurking around the Pine Barrens.

:sSig_lol3:

 

[70NPORT]

Especially scary with those Soprano types lurking around the Pine Barrens.

:sSig_lol3:

Yea, ok go ahead and laugh.....those pine barrens are home to more than just mafioso.

 

[1978 NYB]

I'm just kidding, I live about 40 minutes from the Jersey border. I like driving back roads going to Atco instead of driving I-95.

 

[commando1]

I-95 :Groaner:
I used to LIVE on that Interstate. Could walk into ANY service area and they'd have my coffee all ready for me.:coffee2:
I knew every bump between Boston and Trenton by name.:icon_eyes:

 

[70NPORT]

I-95 is usually one long traffic jam in some spots. I try to avoid it most of the time.

 

[1978 NYB]

I-95 is so conjested from all points north to south. My usual nightmare stetches from Philly to D.C. I try to avoid I-95 any chance I get.

 

[70NPORT]

Heck, ALL of NJ is congested.......except for the pine barrens, but even that huge area is surrounded. I don't blame the piney's for wanting to live there in peace.

 

[1978 NYB]

I live in an area of Maryland that I consider nice. My back yard is protected woodlands. However, I live about a mile from I-95 and I can hear a slight low level of noise of the traffic of I-95 once in a while when I'm on the deck.

 

[BillGrissom]

If you are lucky, it could be the bearing in the compressor clutch, which is easier to replace.

 

[70NPORT]

well its either that, or the Hayden clutch. I'm parking her for the next couple weeks before Carlisle to swap out a few things. Hopefully I'll get to the bottom of it before then. Curiously it does not "whrrr"or "hum" all of the time.

 

[70NPORT]

Perhaps it is not the fan clutch after all. I took everything off the front end this afternoon and pulled radiator......finally got to the fan. It has real nice "play" movement in it, spins almost by itself nice and smooth, DITTO for the compressor pulley....no rough spots when I spin it or noise. Maybe belts are slipping, but they look good.

 

[commando1]

Reminds me of an actual post over on Moparts.
The question asked was on how to test a fan clutch.
One of the dead serious replies was:
"...hold the fan while a buddy starts the car..."