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AC belt thrown for a third time - new belt, new bushings, proper tension 700 1990

A few days, I posted about how my 90 740T threw its AC belt for the second time in a year.

Everybody, including me, figured the bushings were to blame, and it did actually look like the pulleys were misaligned. Replaced all 5 of the AC bushings and 2 of 3 for the alternator (because I only ordered 7 bushings).

Today, the AC ran long enough to get almost as cold as usual - under 5 minutes - and then threw the belt.

The clutch doesn't seem to be seized, but when I turned the clutch on the front by hand, it did seem to be binding at least a little. There was a good bit of belt material on the AC pulley and the belt seems to be a bit worse for wear and glazed a bit. I was on the road, so I didn't look into it that much. I figure I can put the belt on and sit there, letting it run with the hood open to see what happens.

Does this sound like my compressor is seizing up? Also, do you think it will throw the belt at idle or that I'll have to rev it up and down like I would be while driving? Is there anything I can or should lube in the clutch or compressor like bearings?

One other thing - I was going to check the pressure (because I suspect my refrigerant is low just because it's the original charge and even the best seals leak a little). When I started to unscrew the aluminum cap on the accumulator, gas escaped. Seems to me like the valve (there's a valve under the cap, right??) is leaking.

Thanks








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    AC belt thrown for a third time - new belt, new bushings, proper tension 700 1990

    After all you've gone through I would suspect the clutch bearing is bad and seizing up. I have a used spare if you're interested or you can just replace the whole compressor.








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      AC belt thrown for a third time - new belt, new bushings, proper tension 700 1990

      I'm probably too late to chime in, but if the rubber on the harmonic balancer is loose the pulley could wobble and throw the belt off.








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    AC belt thrown for a third time - new belt, new bushings, proper tension 700 1990

    Hi,


    It could be that the belt is not tensioned correctly. I'm assuming that it is.

    If the A/C is cold, I wouldn't worry about measuring the pressure as preventative maintenance. Look into environmentally friendly refrigerants to replace the R12 if it is low. They are a lot cheaper and may actually work better then R12.

    You said that the clutch feels like it is binding. That would be a good place to start, if nothing else appears wrong.


    Goatman







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