1995 Toyota 4Runner blowing fuses and A/C Clutch Replacement

During a recent trip, the A/C fuse blew.  This fuse  is in relay box #3, behind the dashboard on the passenger side, near the door...  accessible only when the dash is taken apart - nice!  The A/C was making air before there was a nasty burning plastic smell and the fuse blew.

I put in a new fuse - it blew right away.  I tried a 20A fuse (2x the original 10A) and it held for a bit; the compressor ran very intermittently and again released some horrible smell.  I cut it off right away.

Because the compressor still turned, both then and later by hand, I assumed it wasn't shot, but that the A/C clutch had burned up.  The shop I took the truck to said it took so much labor to replace, it wasn't worth it - just replace the compressor and essentially rebuild the A/C system (new dryer, expansion, o-rings etc.).  Just under $1000 total.  Yuck-O.

A survey of the internet yielded this link:
http://www.yotatech.com/f2/c-blowing-fuses-what-could-214151/
I found just enough good ideas there to believe replacing the clutch was something I could manage.  I found a replacement clutch on ebay for just less than $70.  If this worked...pretty big savings.

So I started taking things off the car.  Loosened all the belts first, then took off the shroud and fan/fan-clutch to make space.  Also dropped the steering damper to make some space below, and removed a little cover in the front passenger wheel-well to get access to the compressor bolts.  Space is super tight, but between using wrenches and a u-joint adapter with some creative extensions, all the bolts came loose.  The compressor could be moved around quite a bit, enough for access, even still connected to the refrigerant lines.

The clutch is supposed to come apart like this:

(Note that clicking on an image should yield a bigger version.)

The bolt at the front was the first pain - the compressor wanted to turn.  I was finally able to hold the middle bit (88403 in the diagram) with some pliers and a wrap of nylon cord and get the bolt loose - it loosens the normal way (at first I was worried it might be reverse thread - it isn't).  The front piece came off easily.

The pulley is held in by a snap ring, which wasn't easy to get out in tight quarters, but I eventually pried it free.  The pulley, however, was still totally German-stuck (gutenstuk).  I needed a close-quarters pulley-puller.

I rolled my own from a 3/4" section of square aluminum channel, a T-nut, bolt with some normal nuts, and a couple c-clamps as shown:

I drilled a hole through the channel and hot-glued the T-nut in place in the hole.  The bolt was a 5/16"-18, and the two nuts tightened against each other at the end of the bolt made something flat to push up against the shaft of the compressor with.

The puller worked like a charm.  Here it is in place to start:

Soon the pulley was sliding free...note the gap forming behind the pulley:

As seen in the exploded diagram, there is another pain-in-the-ass snap ring to remove after the pulley is off; the coil then pulls easily off the shaft.  Below are the A/C clutch parts, removed; on the right is the guilty fellow - yeah, I think that coil is shot...

Next: replacement with the new parts!

The parable of the store owner

Once there was a gang of children tormenting the owner of a convenience store. The gang leader ridiculed the owner for years while his gang allegedly lifted candybars; tales of their accomplishments abounded on every street corner and playground, and children widely regarded the gang and it's leader among the "greatest of all time".  Naturally everyone assumed the leader must have also taken some candy too, and says so, but he claims he never ever did.  There was no security system to prove the leader took anything, the only proof ever offered are the boasts to one another among a gang of children.  That, and over time, many other members of the gang are actually caught red-handed lying and stealing candy at stores around the area.

So, many years later, the former gang leader has grown up - he's rich, successful, and a benevolent supporter of many laudable causes.  Members of the gang have scattered - some never amounted to anything, but many went on to become successful in their own rights, a few even own their own stores now.  No one in the gang has lifted anything for quite awhile.

But that old store owner has not forgotten the old days.  He looks at the success of the former gang leader, and the nice stores owned by a few former gang members, and thinks everyday, "That guy made fun of me, they stole from me!" and won't let it lie.  So after years of chasing windmills, he finally "convinces" some of the down-and-out former gang members to say, on record, that they KNOW the leader took some candy too back-in-the-day.  Many law enforcement agencies look at the case and decide pursuit of the old gang is not worth their time, but finally a regulatory agency in charge limiting widespread shoplifting takes up the case, and it's decided that a small (and possibly biased) jury will arbitrarily decide, based solely on hearsay and innuendo from these former gang members, if any candy was ever taken by the gang leader.  The panel has no substantial legal or enforcement power, but their ruling might at least highly embarrass the former gang leader.

The store owner spends a LOT of money convincing the public to listen to known thieves and liars to begin with, and unearths boxes of evidence; some that may be summed up simply as circumstantial, and some quite serious.  Nevertheless, in the end, the amount of money spent by the owner could have bought multiple security systems for his and others stores, and effectively prevented any further shoplifting.  Instead, the owner used the money to endlessly pursue the defamation of the gang leader.

Finally, the jury releases their decision - they found that the gang leader had indeed taken some candy bars.  He was fined the value of a handful of candybars and told he could never publicly claim to be the "greatest of all time" again.  No matter the ruling, the leader continued to claim his innocence since there was no legally binding concrete proof of any wrongdoing.  His wealth and fame declined a little, but he maintained his public good deeds as before and continued to enjoy much public support.  The ruling meant little, as many of the public privately felt all along he must have taken some candybars along the way, so at this point the public essentially let it go, and most continued to believe he was among the greatest of all time.  He obviously had not always taken candy, and he must not have taken very much, or he would have been caught like his accusers.  After all, he was the leader!  Everyone was watching him like a hawk the moment he entered any store...it just was not possible that he could have snatched much candy, no matter what those other guys were saying.  They must just be jealous.

Many new gangs have come and gone, and the store owner, on the other hand, lost candybars furiously for decades, and continues to do so.  Still, he smiles and foolishly claims victory and believes that by disparaging one alleged shoplifter from 20 years past, no one is currently shoplifting.