alexk243
KulAdventure
The trouble people are reporting is due to known premature failure in the double pulley harmonic balancer and not "up in the engine" from my understanding."Does anyone know if the crankshaft pulley has to be replaced/removed/disabled? Do I need to bypass the rear AC pump and use a new belt to avoid trouble up in the engine? I am finding conflicting information about this... some people seem to recommend it, some don't, and the terms for what needs to be done seem to change..."
From another post: "Then again, others have reported problems with the engine pulley that drives this compressor, in that it has been known to fail and cause show-stopping damage."
I'm also curious about this - Bueller? Anyone?
Most people replace the double pulley harmonic balancer (used for dual A/C) with a single pulley harmonic balancer as the double pulley one is prone to failure and the second pulley only drives the rear A/C compressor. The rear A/C compressor is on a belt of its own. so you dont need to "bypass" it, just disconnect it. From my experience you just remove the belt and replace the harmonic balancer with the single pulley type and most leave the rear A/C compressor in the engine, just not hooked up.
That being said, the compressor if in ideal condition should not have much draw on the engine if the clutch is not engaged. So continuing to run it with the rear A/C compressor attached, although not ideal, shouldn't hurt anything... just like driving the vehicle with the A/C off, but I would recommend replacing the harmonic balancer with the single pulley one. I can tell you first hand harmonic balancer break downs on the road are no fun.
I believe these are the reccomended harmonic balancers (what I used):
Single Pulley for one A/C compressor
Dual belt harmonic balancer for dual (rear) A/C compressors
Some people go with the cheaper Dayco or Dorman Harmonic Balancers, but there are reports of early failures on those. So for the small price difference go with the OE one.
If you plan to replace the harmonic balancer there are a bunch of write-ups on the process and is it somewhat in-depth.
Write-Up on my harmonic balancer replacement
Forum thread about harmonic balancer failure and repair
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