New A/C Clutch or Compressor?

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Nick1994

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Last Friday I drove the Jeep to work and a mile before I got there the A/C went out. I dropped it off at my mechanic’s and he said it’s the compressor clutch, which I suspected.

He hasn’t given me exact numbers yet, but a new compressor clutch is getting somewhat close to the price of a new Four Seasons compressor. My Jeep’s compressor is original with 146k miles. I’ll be keeping the Jeep forever, and it doesn’t see major miles.

What would you do? New or repair? A reman compressor will NOT be going on there either way.
 
Why is the clutch bad? On a few Fords, I noticed fatigue cracks on the metal webbing that were also present on used parts. I had to buy new.

Some clutches require special tooling to remove with the compressor on the car.

Did the mechanic's comments include labor, or was this just parts cost?
 
The clutch assembly may simply be worn out and thus unable to pull in over the wider gap when hot. Some designs can be shimmed to bring the gap back to spec and get more life from the unit. The compressor in my car still works 50k after I fabricated shims because the gap was twice as wide as spec. Your mileage may vary, but it could buy you time to source better pricing on a new unit.

Another thing to check is the refrigerant charge, as mine acted up worse when low. Returning refrigerant cools the compressor, so insufficient charge in the system would make it overheat faster.
 
Id get a new Sanden if possible. Only downside is that you’re opening the system, but at that age it may be a good idea. Replace the receiver dryer and any seals and Schraders you can.
 
Had my mechanic replace the receiver/drier and put in a new GPD compressor. $540 OTD, A/C blows nice and cold. Also had him swap my fan clutch back to the stock one, I had a heavy duty one on there and was sick of the noise and power loss from the drag.

Thanks for the help everyone.
 
Good Job.

My Dodge Journey (2015) before it was in an accident had the compressor go back just over the warranty at 103,000km. These past few years I have seen quite a few Dodge clutches and compressors go. I think it's because they are constantly cycled whether the A/C is on or not and not of the greatest OE quality to begin with.
 
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Originally Posted By: StevieC
Good Job.

My Dodge Journey (2015) before it was in an accident had the compressor go back just over the warranty at 103,000km. These past few years I have seen quite a few Dodge clutches and compressors go. I think it's because they are constantly cycled whether the A/C is on or not and not of the greatest OE quality to begin with.
My mechanic is a Jeep guy (older Jeeps) and says they've got good A/C systems on the XJ's, my OE compressor was a Sanden.

These newer ones, I don't have much faith in. My mom has a 2012 Patriot that the compressor died at 60k miles.
 
Yeah the older ones seem to go on forever for sure. Not sure why they stopped using them. Probably because of "Cost". Forget about customer satisfaction eh?
lol.gif
 
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