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Engine Rattle Solved - A/C Compressor Posted by Justin VanAbrahams [Email] (#32) [Profile/Gallery] (more from Justin VanAbrahams) on Mon, 1 Jun 2009 15:40:50 Members do not see ads below this line. - Help Keep This Site Online - Signup |
Followup to this thread:
http://www.saabnet.com/tsn/bb/NG900/index.html?bID=271292
After further investigation, the noise was traced to the A/C compressor. Another 100 miles on the engine resulted in a visible wobble on the compressor that was unmistakably tied to the noise we were hearing.
Checked out a couple options - professional compressor replacement ($900-$1400), DIY compressor replacement ($500-$600), or fixing the actual pulley. Since the car is six years old with probably no real long-term ownership goals, and since the A/C system itself works great, we decided to tackle the pulley and keep repair costs low.
As it turns out, the compressor pressure plate was shot... That was what was wobbling and rattling while the compressor itself was just fine. We ordered a clutch/pulley assembly from an outfit in Texas - it included the pulley, coil, and clutch and set us back $125.
Installation was basically a snap* - pull off the entire fender liner, remove the intake box thingy (my 9-3 dictionary knowledge sucks :) and you have easy access to the compressor. A 14mm nut on the shaft is removed followed by a pair of snap rings. I had to make light use of a gear puller to get the pulley off, but it was not a struggle. As they say, assembly is the reverse of removal!
* We ran into a small issue - the clutch was clearly remanufactured, and whoever did it machined a nice new surface into the clutch, but failed to remove an equal amount off the hub. The result was that the air gap between clutch halves was too large, and the coil couldn't suck 'em together. Some light filing of the hub solved that issue.
All said and done the operation took four hours - and fully half of that was taken up by test fitting the clutch over and over, each time taking a small amount off the hub.
I have two very good contacts for Sanden-related A/C stuff which I'll post later. Hopefully they may come in handy for other folks facing this issue.
posted by 12.71.42...
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