Hey all,

I thought I'd start my first post off with a real doozy. I had a bearing go bad on my AC Clutch pulley. I thought I'd take a crack at getting it swapped out. I am a DIY kind of guy, had moderate experience building cars in the past and figured this should be a big issue as of yet. It's turning out to be a goliath of a task just to get the car back in running condition. If you have part source recommendations (North America), I would love some links!

It started out with a light whistle and grinding that started in the late fall/early winter. I had particulate coming out of the pulley for the AC Compressor (reddish dust from ground bearings, wobbly clutch, general grinding, etc) that tipped me off that I had a major rubbing issue. I got a bearing from the local AutoZone retail location (USA) that had listed the "correct" bearing on their system for the 08 LR2, got some tools together and set off on swapping that bearing on a Saturday.

I got the compressor fully disassembled and removed from the engine bay to get the pulley off.
SIDE NOTE: To remove the belt from the pulley, use a 19mm open-end wrench to pry back on the tensioner mount instead of trying to find a special spanner wrench or tensioner tool. If you're like me, you'll waste half of your day just trying to figure out this simple step! (See diagram below)


Belt Tensioner mount on 2008 LR2
backup


How to loosen belt using an open-end wrench.
backup

Well, I quickly found out that the suggested bearing was definitely not the correct size and probably 5mm too small. 2008 LR2 AC Compressor Clutch Bearing dimensions are: Inner Bore Diameter - 35mm / Outer Bore Diameter - 55mm / Width or Thickness - 22mm. Trust me, you don't want to have everything disassembled only to find out that you got the wrong size bearing. I searched all other local shops and chain stores (O'Reilley's, AdvancedAP, NAPA, etc) and even a local Motion Industries branch, none of which had the correct size bearing for sale. My best bet was to get one online and pray for a speedy shipment while my LR sat immobile. (There is another bearing that is 35mm x 55mm x 20mm that most chains stock that could get you by in a pinch, but is by no means a long-term fix. I was able to pop one of these in and get the LR to a more suitable spot for $20 USD instead of a flat-bed tow.)

I ended up getting a whole replacement assembly (Clutch Plate, Pulley, Pre-Presssed Bearing, and Magnetic Coil) on a faster shipment. Figured I would just swap it all while I was working on it. Disassembled the AC Compressor again, hoping that this would be the end of it. Got the new assembly on, everything fit great, until I tried to plug the Coil into the OEM harness. Plug didn't fit right, leading me to believe that it was meant for another model or year. I was still able to make a connection (and assuming all coils have similar power demands. Does anyone know what the power supply to the Coil on the AC Compressors is rated at? 12VDC?) and everything worked great! Silent, no squeals or grinding, AC Clutch engaged without any problems. Drove it for ~30 miles and patted myself on the back for a crisis averted.

As they say, bad things come in threes. Woke up and started the LR this morning and only made it a block before the cabin was filled with the smell of burning electrical. I whipped it back home and went full panic mode as I tried to figure out where it was coming from. Opened the bonnet to find a think trail of smoke coming from the Coil I had just installed. It looks like the power supply wire had a dead short at the base of the Coil. I tried unplugging the cable to see fi I could still run the car without the AC engaged, but sadly it didn't stop the smoke from continuing to emanate out of the pulley assembly. Now, I haven't had time yet to disassemble and give a diagnostic breakdown, which I will update with later, but I am assuming the short caused the coil to expand and rub against the pulley. In turn, that rubbing caused heat and friction on the coil assembly causing it to fail even more. I'm just lucky at this point that I didn't have it burst into flames while driving the previous day!

At this point, I am currently working on getting a replacement assembly that better matches the OEM part, hoping that I can get this solved sooner rather than later. It's getting warm out and I want to be out driving with the windows down!

I have a few questions at this point that I would love some community help with:

1. What's your preferred source of parts? Straight from LR for $$$ or from third-party for $?

2. Since I will be replacing a part again, does anyone want me to do a full walkthrough about removal and disassembly of the AC Compressor unit? (I've gotten pretty quick at it now.)

3. Has anyone else had major issues with their pulley/bearing/AC Clutch or is this just my bad luck?

Thanks for sticking in there, you earned a kudos from me for sticking it out through my rant! Hopefully I can update with some positive news soon.

 

[QUOTE=MidND;644090]Hey all,

I thought I'd start my first post off with a real doozy. I had a bearing go bad on my AC Clutch pulley. I thought I'd take a crack at getting it swapped out. I am a DIY kind of guy, had moderate experience building cars in the past and figured this should be a big issue as of yet. It's turning out to be a goliath of a task just to get the car back in running condition. If you have part source recommendations (North America), I would love some links!

It started out with a light whistle and grinding that started in the late fall/early winter. I had particulate coming out of the pulley for the AC Compressor (reddish dust from ground bearings, wobbly clutch, general grinding, etc) that tipped me off that I had a major rubbing issue. I got a bearing from the local AutoZone retail location (USA) that had listed the "correct" bearing on their system for the 08 LR2, got some tools together and set off on swapping that bearing on a Saturday.

I got the compressor fully disassembled and removed from the engine bay to get the pulley off.
SIDE NOTE: To remove the belt from the pulley, use a 19mm open-end wrench to pry back on the tensioner mount instead of trying to find a special spanner wrench or tensioner tool. If you're like me, you'll waste half of your day just trying to figure out this simple step! (See diagram below)


Belt Tensioner mount on 2008 LR2
backup


How to loosen belt using an open-end wrench.
backup

Well, I quickly found out that the suggested bearing was definitely not the correct size and probably 5mm too small. 2008 LR2 AC Compressor Clutch Bearing dimensions are: Inner Bore Diameter - 35mm / Outer Bore Diameter - 55mm / Width or Thickness - 22mm. Trust me, you don't want to have everything disassembled only to find out that you got the wrong size bearing. I searched all other local shops and chain stores (O'Reilley's, AdvancedAP, NAPA, etc) and even a local Motion Industries branch, none of which had the correct size bearing for sale. My best bet was to get one online and pray for a speedy shipment while my LR sat immobile. (There is another bearing that is 35mm x 55mm x 20mm that most chains stock that could get you by in a pinch, but is by no means a long-term fix. I was able to pop one of these in and get the LR to a more suitable spot for $20 USD instead of a flat-bed tow.)

I ended up getting a whole replacement assembly (Clutch Plate, Pulley, Pre-Presssed Bearing, and Magnetic Coil) on a faster shipment. Figured I would just swap it all while I was working on it. Disassembled the AC Compressor again, hoping that this would be the end of it. Got the new assembly on, everything fit great, until I tried to plug the Coil into the OEM harness. Plug didn't fit right, leading me to believe that it was meant for another model or year. I was still able to make a connection (and assuming all coils have similar power demands. Does anyone know what the power supply to the Coil on the AC Compressors is rated at? 12VDC?) and everything worked great! Silent, no squeals or grinding, AC Clutch engaged without any problems. Drove it for ~30 miles and patted myself on the back for a crisis averted.

As they say, bad things come in threes. Woke up and started the LR this morning and only made it a block before the cabin was filled with the smell of burning electrical. I whipped it back home and went full panic mode as I tried to figure out where it was coming from. Opened the bonnet to find a think trail of smoke coming from the Coil I had just installed. It looks like the power supply wire had a dead short at the base of the Coil. I tried unplugging the cable to see fi I could still run the car without the AC engaged, but sadly it didn't stop the smoke from continuing to emanate out of the pulley assembly. Now, I haven't had time yet to disassemble and give a diagnostic breakdown, which I will update with later, but I am assuming the short caused the coil to expand and rub against the pulley. In turn, that rubbing caused heat and friction on the coil assembly causing it to fail even more. I'm just lucky at this point that I didn't have it burst into flames while driving the previous day!

At this point, I am currently working on getting a replacement assembly that better matches the OEM part, hoping that I can get this solved sooner rather than later. It's getting warm out and I want to be out driving with the windows down!

I have a few questions at this point that I would love some community help with:

1. What's your preferred source of parts? Straight from LR for $$$ or from third-party for $?

2. Since I will be replacing a part again, does anyone want me to do a full walkthrough about removal and disassembly of the AC Compressor unit? (I've gotten pretty quick at it now.)

3. Has anyone else had major issues with their pulley/bearing/AC Clutch or is this just my bad luck?

Thanks for sticking in there, you earned a kudos from me for sticking it out through my rant! Hopefully I can update with some positive news soon.[/QUOTE

I am currently (today, August 10, 2019) about to swap out the entire air conditioning compressor and clutch for the same grinding/whistling noise. Fortunately it has stopped now, assuming that it’s just worn completely out. Have the brand new one still in the box and will begin the process this afternoon.
How difficult is it to get the belt off and then back on using your method jshown in the diagram???