The bearings are making quite a bit of noise, verified using a mechanic stethoscope. Locking up would result in replacing the belt, dryer, refrigerant, vacuum, etc. I would think that it would be better to fix now. Of course, why couldn't the belt just be removed until it is fixed thwarting potential disaster?
An A/C compressor for the subject vehicle is $1,000 (originally $1,250) from a local stealership. I'll call a couple more tomorrow, but a few questions.
1) Any online OEM places that should be checked? What other brands are considered excellent or is this an instance where OEM is the best bet? RockAuto has been checked.
ACDelco is $468.79 + $38.50 (core) = $507.29 with 1 week lead-time. It is a reman with 10PA15L. What is 10PA15L?
Four Seasons is $332.79 + $46.67 (core) = $379.46. I've never heard of this brand. It is a reman with clutch.
2) Can these be rebuilt or are rebuild kits not available? Should I be looking at just bearings or seal as well? Can the bearings be sourced from industrial supply houses like McMaster, Grainger, MSC, etc.? However, I don't feel this is something I could do w/o the refrigerant recovery machine, etc.
3) Are there any other parts that should be replaced when R&R the compressor? What's the correct procedure?
4) Root cause analysis is the most important question since this doesn't need to occur again. I believe it to be from an over-tensioned belt. I did the timing belt job a month or so ago in a mechanic's garage with him looking over me ensuring everything was good. However, I didn't know how to set the belt tension (3 belts total), so he did that. This seems highly likely but totally unprovable, which is fine since solving the problem & preventing its recurrence is the main goal of the exercise.
a) Is this over-tensioned belt scenario highly likely? If not, what would you estimate to be the root cause failure? The pickup has 160k miles.
b) How should the belts be properly tensioned? How do mechanics typically set the belt tension?
Thank you.
An A/C compressor for the subject vehicle is $1,000 (originally $1,250) from a local stealership. I'll call a couple more tomorrow, but a few questions.
1) Any online OEM places that should be checked? What other brands are considered excellent or is this an instance where OEM is the best bet? RockAuto has been checked.
ACDelco is $468.79 + $38.50 (core) = $507.29 with 1 week lead-time. It is a reman with 10PA15L. What is 10PA15L?
Four Seasons is $332.79 + $46.67 (core) = $379.46. I've never heard of this brand. It is a reman with clutch.
2) Can these be rebuilt or are rebuild kits not available? Should I be looking at just bearings or seal as well? Can the bearings be sourced from industrial supply houses like McMaster, Grainger, MSC, etc.? However, I don't feel this is something I could do w/o the refrigerant recovery machine, etc.
3) Are there any other parts that should be replaced when R&R the compressor? What's the correct procedure?
4) Root cause analysis is the most important question since this doesn't need to occur again. I believe it to be from an over-tensioned belt. I did the timing belt job a month or so ago in a mechanic's garage with him looking over me ensuring everything was good. However, I didn't know how to set the belt tension (3 belts total), so he did that. This seems highly likely but totally unprovable, which is fine since solving the problem & preventing its recurrence is the main goal of the exercise.
a) Is this over-tensioned belt scenario highly likely? If not, what would you estimate to be the root cause failure? The pickup has 160k miles.
b) How should the belts be properly tensioned? How do mechanics typically set the belt tension?
Thank you.
