I have a whining sound coming from my 3vze in my 1989 runner. After disconnecting all each belt one by one i found it to be on the ac drive. From reading it seems like most of the time people have problems with this its the idler but mine seems fine. The idler seems to spin smooth and the sound isn't clearly coming from it.

Does the AC compressor have a bearing that goes bad? Currently the sound is pretty independent of the ac clutch being engaged or not. It still does blow cold so id like to keep it.

Does anyone have any experience with this?

Thanks guys

 

Bump, this thing is still driving me crazy!

Upon further inspection i can hear it coming from the ac compressor pulley. Turning the ac on makes the sound go away (takes a few seconds.) With the belt disconnected I can spin it freely and hear the scratching sound from it. I tried to take the 10mm bolt off the front but don't know how to hold it still, and even if i got it off i'm not sure there are any replacement parts for it.

Someone out there has to have had the same problems, i have searched and only found people ever replacing the idler.

 

Just where is the bearing starting to fail is it in the clutch or the compressor its self ??

Not to hard to replace the clutch .

The compressor is quite different I have never looked if Toyota sells parts to rebuild the compressor.

It comes down to the clutch or the compressor

Most rotating things have bearings if not bearings bushings .

 

I'd say its the one in the clutch. You can hear it just spinning the pulley with the ac clutch disengaged and the shaft of the ac compressor not rotating. I did find that rock auto has a new clutch, i might try a junkyard to see if i can just find the pulley if i cant pop the bearing out.

That said i still don't know how to hold the ac shaft still to get the bolt off.

Thanks

 

Most times you can break them loose with the belt tension just like the Power steering pump