ugly noise from front of engine
 

after some enthusiastic driving i parkd and heard a bad noise that seemed to be coming from one of the accessories, i think it was the a/c compressor, as the car idled. it sounded sort of like a bad bearing or when the waterpump goes, but i crawled under a bit and it seemed to be from the drivers side, i think thats the a/c and alternator, i noticed that the front section of the a/c compressor was turning slowly, not as fast as the belt was going and when i turned the a/c on nothing changed, so i suspect the comp. clutch, does this sound reasonable and what can i do about it? thanks

One thing with the compressor - just because you hit the switch dosen't necessarily make it turn on. With the climate control system, if the air temp is already cold, the compressor won't go on (only as needed). You may want to turn on the heater and warm up first - then switch to cold and make sure the temp setting is on the coldest.

oh! ok, thx, but then what, if it is the a/c comp. or clutch, does the whole unit have to be replaced?

Hi, I would remove the belt first and then run the car to kinda narrow it down a little. Hopefully it is just one of your accessories. I have repalced the bearing under my clutch on the ac compressor. The bearing cost me 35 dollars but the only reason that I had to repalce it is because the ac was noisy when turned on. When not used it was fine.

I don't mean to hijack this thread, but since we are on the topic of noisy things at the front of the motor...Is there a bearing(s) available for the PS pump? Or even a Porsche or other part #(s)? I'm pretty sure it(they) do(es) NOT come with the reseal kits that are readily available. Any ideas? A rebuilt pump is too expen$ive right now. I need my car for job hunting, but I guess I'll have to pinch a loaf if I have to.

Hi, as far as your power steering pump you could always find a good used one of ebay and then take your original one apart and rebuild it. Even if your pump bearing and seals have porsche part numbers on it any bearing shop will be able to sell you a SKF or similar bearing and seal.

"Pinch a Loaf"!?!?!?

You can use a long screwdriver as a stethascope. Start the car and put the pointed end of the screwdriver on whatever you suspect the noise is coming from. put the handle end in your ear (not actualy in your ear but you know what I mean) and listen. Move from unit to unit until you narrow the noise down.
If you put the screwdriver too far into your ear you won't be able to hear anything.....................ever................. .again.

lol, ok thx, sounds like a plan, the noise is intermittent however, so i'll have to wait for it to happen again.

Unless the a/c or defroster is on, the center of the a/c compressor should not be moving at all. The way it works is the ouside pulley turns with the belt and there is an electromagnet (clutch) that sticks the turning outside pulley to the inside part. If the a/c is off, the electromagnet is off and the center part is not suppose to be stuck to the turning pulley at all. If the center of the a/c compressor is turning you have a problem with the compressor clutch. Yes, you can only replace that part and not the whole compressor, but you'll need a tool to remove it. Does your a/c work at all?

If it starts making the noise again, shut it off and remove the belt and restart it to see if the noise goes away.

Thanks Tom, yeah i figured something was wrong when it was turning like that, if my sunroof worked i would consider doing an a/c delete, but...thats another story. It hasn't happened again, it was after a little "high speed" stuff.

Keep an ear on it. I've gone through two compressors on my Accord from what I believe to be a bad bearing. It overheats then causes the laqour in the clutch to melt, thus causing it to slick and sieze.