232k on my 5.3 Suburban with original ac compressor. Recently it has been making a Cricket like Chirping sound when the clutch is not engaged. It does engage when turned on and I do get cold air... I am just trying to figure out the Cricket/chirping sound that increases repetition with rpms.

1) Anyone think its Clutch or pulley bearing? If yes... would it be a doable job or will it be impossible to pull off given the age? I am extremely handy mechanic wise, I just hear horror stories on pulling the clutch with compressor installed.

2) Other thing is the cost.. they are over $100 for a decent brand so do I bite the bullet and get a whole new compressor w/clutch?

thoughts?

 

If it only, does it with the clutch not engaged, then that eliminates the compressor. If you change the clutch with the proper clutch tool, you should have no problem. If the clutch is easily accessible, then it is easy to do with the compressor installed.

 

This "proper clutch tool"... is it a holder or a puller or some sort?

thanks

 

Are you sure the chirp is from the a/c unit vs other pulleys in the mix?

 

A/C Compressor Clutch Remover Kit Puller Installer Auto Air Conditioning Tool | eBay

 

Is this on your 2007? We've had a 2005 and a 2011 and those had a separate belt for the AC compressor (but ours were 6.0 or 6.2 engines). If yours has separate AC belt, I'd remove that and (1) see if the noise disappears and (2) spin the AC pulley by hand and listen and feel for bearing wear.

At 232K miles, a complete new compressor with clutch may not be a bad idea. Since your AC still cools fine, you could avoid replacing the condenser and accumulator (which is what I did on our 2005).

 

It is definitely from the ac compressor... when it kicks on it goes away. I had replaced the ac belt idler pulley last year. I may attempt to pull the clutch and see if its just a bad bearing within the pulley itself. If that fails, I will bite the bullet and look into installing a new compressor.

 

I inspected the gap between the front plate of the clutch and pulley. I would of expected it to be too large of a gap given the mileage but it was almost non existent. I did not have a feeler gauge handy but from watching videos on gaping the clutch, I had a dam good idea of what looked right vs wrong. I was able to pull the from plate off by using a proper threaded bold to drive into the threaded plate which bottomed out on the compressor shaft and forced the plate off of the splined shaft. 2 spacer/washers were found... a thicker one and a thinner one. I replaced the thin one with something similar to the thicker one giving me 2 thick spacers and reinstalled. Noise was gone and it still engages when activated!!! The only odd thing I noticed which may not be related to clutch gap.... when engaging it with AC on, I never saw it cycle on and off. I always thought compressors cycle on and off while the AC is turned on???

thanks for all the input on this... much appreciated

Ron

 

They don't cycle on and off. The temperature is controlled by mixing hot and cold air.

 

My '93 cycles on & off and I think our '05 did as well. Is not cycling something newer systems do??