Heya! Diy inclined owner here-

My 07 RWD is starting to make a grinding noise in the front of the motor. Thus far I suspect it's the bearing on the compressor pulley, rather than the compressor internals itself.

Labor to remove it involves dropping the subframe, removing the rack and column, and the driver side exhaust manifold afaik.

Two solutions;
Try to instead remove the studs the compressor sits on from the block, so extra components don't have to be removed to "slide" the compressor off the studs- replace with bolts.

The other idea is just trying to replace the clutch/pulley/bearing assembly on the front- APremium sells them for roughly $45. Possible to do it in the car?

Curious if anyone has done either before.

 

First I would confirm that is actually what the noise is, use a stethoscope, ultrasound system, or chassis ears etc to make sure it's the clutch.

If it is I would be stunned since the LS460 uses a variable AC compressor and doesn't have a "clutch" vs a break away system to prevent a seized compressor from throwing the belt.

 

Interesting, my 2007 LS460 was making a grinding whining sound for weeks until today when the belt slipped off and got shredded. I removed the typical culprits, I.e. tensioner pulley and other two pulleys. All three were fine. The ac pulley was wobbly by hand and I found ball bearings just below it. Curious if the non-clutch system you speak of is replaceable, or if the whole compressor has to be replaced. The ac worked fine the whole time…This is my first search on the forums, other than YouTube, which didn’t have anything on the clutch/bearing subject.