Automotive Air Conditioning Information Forum

Hello, I hope you all are doing well.

So I have a Nissan Frontier 2001 that has been sitting for a couple of months without being used. The AC has always worked really good, the only problem I had experienced with it was related with the clutch gap a couple years ago, but that was very easy to fix.

But now, when I turn on the AC the car starts making a horrible, really loud sound, and I mean really loud, so TURN DOWN THE VOLUME TO WATCH THE VIDEO.

Don't pay attention to the first sound in the video, it's just another belt, now you can see that the compressor clutch is spinning, but sometimes I've noticed that it struggles to spin with the pulley, so both the clutch plate and the pulley almost stop, then spin really slow, then almost stop again, but then sometimes you turn the AC on and it works perfectly fine, freezing cold and no noise.

So I suppose that there must be something wrong inside the compressor, but I'm not really sure.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1VW8obN ... p=drivesdk

I actually have a 1998 and a 2004 Frontier with that same engine. I also once had to remove an AC clutch shim to lessen the air gap on my 1998.

1. Check tension of the AC belt

2. Is there such noise when the engine is running and the AC switched OFF?????????

3. I'd pull off the AC belt, and with engine off spin the pulley part of the AC clutch and feel/listen to its bearing. The AC clutch bearing IS replaceable, and pretty easy.

4. With engine off and AC belt off, use a socket/ratchet to turn the AC drive plate bolt clockwise; there should be some resistance but it should turn without gorilla force.

5. If other stuff besides AC is making noise (see 2) remove power steering belt and alternator belt one at a time and with engine off spin their idler pulleys and PS pump and alternator by hand to feel/listen for drag.

I also have found that belt information online and in parts stores doesn't seem to be correct. Here's what I use:
Alternator/water pump Gates/CarQuest 7350 (fits better than 7355)
AC Gates/CarQuest 9360 (fits better than 9365)
Power steering belt information does seem correct though Power steering Gates/CarQuest 9490

It turns out that it was just a loose V belt haha, I guess that sometimes it's bad to overthink a problem and it's better to just begin with the simple things and the basics.

Thank you very much for your answer.

Legitness211 wrote: ↑Thu Sep 19, 2024 2:30 pm It turns out that it was just a loose V belt haha, I guess that sometimes it's bad to overthink a problem and it's better to just begin with the simple things and the basics.

Thank you very much for your answer.

See what I posted earlier about my feeling that the shorter belts work better for AC and alternator/water pump belt on these.

Cusser wrote: ↑Thu Sep 19, 2024 6:01 pm

Legitness211 wrote: ↑Thu Sep 19, 2024 2:30 pm It turns out that it was just a loose V belt haha, I guess that sometimes it's bad to overthink a problem and it's better to just begin with the simple things and the basics.

Thank you very much for your answer.

See what I posted earlier about my feeling that the shorter belts work better for AC and alternator/water pump belt on these.

Yes, I will check the size of the belts and make the corrections if necessary, thank you for the advice.