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Failed/seized aircon compressors seem to be a fairly common occurrence and rectification can be very expensive. When it happened to my Megane RXE 2.0 a couple of years ago I'd have been happy to forgo the aircon but the repairer despite extensive searching and attempts to find a shorter aux belt to bypass the seized compressor couldn't. Just thinking on this, googling reveals a healthy supply of bypass pulleys (basically an idler pulley mounted on a plate which bolts straight on to the compressor mounts) in the US for common US vehicles and several Asian imports. There doesn't seem to be anything comparable here and we're stuck with the expensive replacement compressor. Or am I wrong and just not looking hard enough? I'd have though there's be a market for such things here as aircon becomes more and more common and cars with it get older.
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I'm no AC expert, but isn't there a way to disengage the clutch on the pump's pulley ?
I was under the impression that the pulley ran free when the power was removed, e.g. by pulling off the electrical connection and taping it up.
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>>the repairer despite extensive searching and attempts to find a shorter aux belt to bypass the seized compressor couldn't.
I know I'm a cynical ole git, but wouldn't it be in his self interest to tell you this?
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Well, possibly, but I was happy to take him at his word. That particular model only came with aircon and there was no variant with that engine without it. I know you can one off order drive belts for ancient rotovators and the like but I don't know whether this is possible with tightly spec'd car auxiliary belts. Looking around the American sites, they seem to have the same problem with trying to find shorter belts - hence the availability of idler pulleys.
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My problem was that the clutch mechanism had seized on to the compressor shaft which had itself seized. Total scrap! Compressors seem to vary. I've seen some where the clutch sits in the middle of the pulley which continues to spin when the aircon is off. Mine just has the pulley with the clutch mechanism inside the nose of the compressor. It was locked solid in all conditions. You couldn't even push the car with the engine off. Surprisingly, the belt held when it seized - just completely stopped the car.
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