I am non mechanical, so my more skilled friend is helping me. I have a loud squealing sound when the Air Conditioner is on. (1993 SC300) So far this week, I put on a new serpentine belt, and a new Idler Pulley did not stop the noise either. The car squeals loud with the air conditioner on, and when I turn the wheels when parked and the engine running, or moving slowly and turning the wheels sharply.
From what we can tell, it could be the "bearings" in the Air Conditioner's clutch. Is there a way to remove the clutch and/or the bearing without removing the air conditioner compressor from the car and losing all of the freon, etc.

It looks like a new "bearing is only $10 to $30 dollars. The "clutch" seems to be $150 or more.

I am unemployed and struggling to survive right now. I can not afford to put in a new air conditioner compressor. Is there a tutorial of how to remove the air conditioner clutch and the bearing? I saw a thread about one guy who removed the bearing from an old idler pulley with a socket and hammer, and he installed the new bearing into the old pulley.

The car gives a brief squeal when I start it up. It has a slight squeal intermittently when the A/C is off and I am driving. But with the AC turned on and the wheel turning sharply while backing out of a parking lot, it is a REAL loud squeal.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Other than get a job, which, believe me I am trying to do....

 

STOP......... Turning the wheels has nothing to do with your AC compressor so let's just stop right there. Turning the wheels puts more strain on the belt that the PS pump is on. It cannot affect the AC in any way other than that. If turning the wheel produces or changes the squealing in any way, blame the belt system somewhere, but not the AC unit itself. Your compressor only shares that belt, it doesn't change a thing about the compressor to turn the wheels and make the PS pump work harder.

 

Thank you for this info. But now I am so confused. I have a brand new serpentine belt that I put on 2 days ago. I was told about 2 years ago that my power steering pump is leaking slightly, but I always check the fluid level and it stays very full. I was going to replace the power steering pump in the next few days, but would like to avoid that as it costs over $250 with core charge, etc, not counting labor, which I hope my friend would do for me for free

 

Best recommendation ever....... don't throw money at the car if you don't know what you're fixing.

 

Remove the accessory belt.
Spin the AC pulley by hand.
freeplay (wobble) or metal-on-metal sound means the bearing is worn.

Replacing the bearing by itself is possible but it requires a few speciality tools.