Hi...I've been away from this forum for a long time....most of it spent trying to get my MB E500 Sport fixed. LOL, never paid so much for a car, never had so many 'Put it on the back of a truck and take it to a dealer' type of messages.
If I want to know I'm going to complete a journey, I take the old Caddy.
Anyway, I do have a problem with my old FWB. 1995, model, it runs well, but the A/c clutch is not going in. Long story short, I find that I've got 12v at the clutch, and the current across the relay (with it removed) is 3.3 amps. About right for the skinny wires that are going into the clutch I would guess.
Anyway, sometimes it goes 'Clunk' and the compressor runs, but most times it just does nothing. I can hear a very slight change in engine note as I bypass the dryer switch...this is the 3 amp load on the alternator I suppose. Nothing else, no click of any sort. Funny it should work sometimes.
I was dismayed at the cost of a clutch, $140 ish from O'Riely's and 107 on the net. But...it looks like a problem to get the clutch off. Anyone done this?
I see in the center of the clutch, a threaded shaft and a ring round it with a punched flat, or maybe a pin. Can't tell. Anyway, no nice big nut to undo.
Is this how it's removed from the compressor? Can it be done without de-gassing?
This looks a bit tricky, but I don't want to de-gass if I can help it. Here's the reason.
Took a long time to go through all this.