AC Compressor Pulley Noise

[92saturnsl2]

My '96 Maxima has a noisy AC compressor pulley, it's been this way for a couple years and not really gotten any worse. Figure it's time to do something about it; it annoys me as the sand-in-bearings noise it makes drowns out the engine noise and makes it sound like something is wrong with the engine. 90% of the noise goes away when the AC clutch is engaged (putting a load on the bearings), so I'm thinking there's bearings in the pulley that are bad, but I really don't know a great deal about how the clutch works on a AC compressor, so it's just an educated guess.

My question is, does the entire AC compressor need to be replaced to service a pulley or clutch (whichever component is causing the problem)? Does this sound like a simple issue with worn bearings? If anyone has any ideas on how to go about this repair, please chime in! TIA.

 

[Linctex]

With the proper pulling tool, you can pull just the clutch off and replace it (on MOST compressors) without too much difficulty.

Tre sad things is - -
it's about the same price for an entire compressor with a new clutch,
than it is for just the clutch all by itself.

 

[Chris142]

You can change just the bearing if you can find one. Its likely that you will have to discharge the system and remove the compressor from the car to work on it. Then beg or borrow the tools to pull and install the clutch. Lot less work to just put a new compressor on it at this point. Go with a new one! Not a reman as those are just junk.