AC Compressor GROWW-OWW-OWW-OWWLS - what is it?

[RickOKC]

This is partially just me making goofy & stupid comments here for the sake of doing so (my only skill in life) but my AC compressor really does make a LOT of GROWWWLY noise. It's done it over the two summers I've owned the VX yet the AC has always performed flawlessly (just noisily with a lot of vibration.)

What could it be? Is it something I should be concerned about? Something I should have checked out? A precursor that in the future I may have to spend the upcoming Zombie Apocalypse all stinky & sweaty? (THAT would suck and turn off the lesser-mutated hot non-zombie chicks. )

For your entertainment, I submit a skit from The Bob & Tom Show because the noise my AC makes sounds similar to the clueless caller's "critter." Even if you can't help me.... I hope you enjoy this as much as I do!

BOB & TOM - MR OBVIOUS - THE CRITTER

Bearings, probably? Can it be repaired or do I need to start preparing for getting creative and replacing the entire oddball 2001 compressor?

[LittleBeast]

Every time I would turn on my ac it would howl as well, and I replaced the ac compressor only to learn that it was the idler arm the whole time. I would try replacing that $50 part with the most expensive after market one you can find. The cheaper ones are plastic but the more pricey ones are metal just like the factory one.

[Amnesia]

LittleBeast - Are you talking about the automatic tensioner pulley? (Ider arm?) Or a stationary routing pulley? Also, sometimes you can track down a bearing or belt that's making noise by shooting either a little water, or belt dressing on the suspeted areas until the sound goes away or changes...

My a/c compressor pully (I suspect) just started making noise yesterday as well... After I got it wet during the water manifold gasket change. The noise comes & goes, but it sounds like the magnetic clutch for the a/c is dragging. It'll go away immediately when I turn the a/c on, but it still tends to come & go after that.

[RickOKC]

I'm still trying to figure this out. I finally had a shop check it out this morning and they are confident the tensioner is fine.

Now that I've paid better attention, it's not necessarily due to the AC compressor - if there is enough electrical load, I will also hear the vibration / rattle as long as the VX is in gear. For example, turning the headlights on & off makes the noise turn on & off.

With the serpentine belt off, the noise can not be re-produced. Motor mounts are fine.

The alternator checks out ok.

While one the lift, they seemed to notice the sound "maybe" coming from the power steering pump area. The PS pump was replaced last year but the VX made the sound before and after it was replaced.

Their other "maybe" was back to the AC compressor, even though the AC was off the entire time while they were exploring. When they cycled the AC, the clutch would jump backward slightly when it turned off.

Thoughts?

[Amnesia]

Look at your compressor drive plate. The visible front plate on your ac compressor pulley. Mine has a spring-steele "three-hoop" pattern. One of the "hoops" are broken. When you turn the ac off, this is supposed to ever-so-slightly pull the drive plate away from the compressor clutch when the ac switch is turned off. Since one of mine is broken, then it doesn't pull away from the clutch evenly and is slightly cocked sideways and drags on the compressor clutch sometimes as the pulley / clutch freewheels (compressor off).

I have a new drive plate I ordered from Isuzu, but I haven't located the puller tool I need to replace it yet. It only has 1 bolt in the center that holds it on, but it has to be pulled off / pressed (or drawn) on... Most days now, it doesn't drag / growl, so I'm leaving it alone for now. Hope this helps.

[LittleBeast]

My A/C growl ended up being my "harmonic balancer" or sometimes called the crankshaft pulley, got it for around $100 on RockAuto.com

[RickOKC]

Thank you both for the suggestions on more things to check.

[VXorado]

For the last couple years, I noticed an occasional growl/grind noise at start up during the winter months. The noise would go away once the VX warmed up and would only happen on cold days. Last week the noise got much worse & after a short trip, I was too embarrassed to drive the VX because of the very loud grinding/whirling noise from the engine. After some troubleshooting, I discovered the a/c clutch bearing was the culprit. My plan is to replace the ac compressor/clutch myself and have a shop charge it up with Freon.

Luckily, I was able to use a shorter belt to bypass the a/c so I can drive the VX while getting parts for the fix. There's some reference on this site to the shorter belt but I couldn't find specifics.

Just in case this happens to anyone else, I purchased the belt from Napa, part #25060802. The belt is specified under a Trooper 3.5L without a/c & the length should be around 80 inches.