So I've got a loud squeal coming out of the front of my Disco that has me beat. I haven't been able to track it down through a vibration or anything like that. Basically, after I've been running at highway speeds and then slow down I get a loud squeal. I mean loud, like ear shatteringly loud if the hood is up. This often goes away if I've only been running the vehicle in town and under 40 mph.

a) I've replaced both idler pulleys as well as the tensioner
b) The belt is brand new (now I've got a spare!)
c) The water pump is new (replaced when I had a coolant leak in the timing cover)
d) The alternator is new (messed it up taking off fan clutch)
e) I think I've checked all the Vacuum lines and didn't find any cracked hoses.

At this point I've only got the A/C and the P/S pump since I don't have ACE. I can hear and feel a little bearing noise on the A/C when I spin it, so this is what I'm looking at now.

From what I've read elsewhere, most A/C clutches can be taken apart without much more than a puller. Has anyone here taken theirs apart and replaced the bearing? I'm ready to dig into it, but I'd love to hear that someone else was successful with the operation.

EDIT1: 2001 Discovery II
EDIT2: I should also mention that I haven't replaced the Fan clutch. I did stop the whole fan at a time when the squeal was occurring and it didn't change the squeal.

 

Remove the belt and spin the clutch pulley.
There are no kits available to rebuild the cluch, no separate clutch, have to buy a complete assembly.
Might consider Roverlandparts.com for a good guaranteed us assembly.

 

Thanks Mike, I don't even think I could rebuild it for cheaper than the $150 at Roverland.

 

Also check www.autosportsunlimited.com

 

Well, I decided to take a look at the A/C clutch before I went and ordered a new one. There was definitely a little noise when it spins, so I decided to see what I could do about it. The good news is that i is really simple to take apart.

1) Take the front bolt off. I held the clutch in place with a pry bar and used a breaker an 10mm socket to get the bolt loose. You can do this without removing the fan or the compressor.
2) Carefully pried off the center hub with two screw drivers. comes easily no need to use force.
3) Used a snap ring tool to take off a snap ring on the outer hub.
4) The outer hub comes right off the shaft. Once removed, the bearing can be pressed right out.

Now, I don't know if this will actually solve my squeal, but it is a cheap fix when the bearing shop opens tomorrow. At this point, I've replaced almost everything else, so If nothing else I know I'll have a good bearing there.

 

Well, just for closure. The A/C clutch is really easy to take apart, but probably not worth the effort. The A/C clutch bearing is a very special bearing used exclusively for A/C Compressors. The replacement was about $40 through my local bearing shop and took about a week to arrive.

I really messed up pressing the bearing back into place.
1) Its been about a week since I took it apart, so I missed the little collar that needs to get put in before the bearing. I was able to get it in place after the face with a little slice in the collar, but to do it right it would have been better to press it in place.
2) I warped my inner A/C clutch disk when I pressed in the bearing. I thought I had a good solid foundation to apply pressure against, but it turned out to be way thinner than I thought. I was able to mostly straighten it out, but it has a wobble now.

Oh yeah, plus, I've still got a squeal! Gaaaaaahhh!!!

So, now I'm still going to be buying another compressor and installing it. (from roverland) I think I would do it all over again though. If I hadn't been stupid putting the new one back in place, I'd have a pretty good compressor for only $50 and an hour's labor.

Once I get the new compressor in place, I'm taking the discovery into a shop to get this squeal diagnosed. I've been defeated, replaced everything suspect, and gotten no farther than I was last fall.