Newbie w/ a/c pump problem...

[joubster]

Hello Everyone,

I'm new to the forum and looking for help. I have a 1996 3.1 Grand Prix that's making an intermittent squeal sound and a bad groan sound that seems to be coming from the a/c pump. At first I thought it was the water pump, but I took a stethascope and could hear some bad grinding going on inside the pump.

The question I have is what can I do to bypass the pump? I don't want to spend tons of cash for A/C. Is there an alternate serpintine belt that doesn't connect to the a/c pump, but still works the water pump? I also heard of something called an eliminator that takes the place of a pump??

Looking for a cheap way out of this.

Thanks for any help you can give!!!

[RareGMFan]

Best way to find out which accessory is causing the noise is to take the belt off, and try spinning each pulley one by one. That's how we figured out it was the A/C compressor for sure on my TGP. You can get a shorter belt to bypass the A/C, as you eluded to. There is also an A/C delete pulley you can get, but to put that on is almost as much trouble as replacing the A/C compressor itself, and is not necessary at all. We bypassed it on my car, but that's the 3.1 (not the 3100), so I'm not sure if you'd use the same belt, though I'm almost positive it's identical since it's basically the same block. But to be sure, get a tailoring tape measure, route it around the accessories the same exact way you'd route the belt, and see how many inches of belt you're going to need. Then you can go to any parts store, and tell them you need a XX" - 6 rib belt.

[joubster]

Thanks RareGMFan.

I did exactly like you told me with removing the belt and it's definately the a/c compressor. I kind of knew that when it was making the grinding noise and started smoking a bit...

I looked at using a shorter belt, but if I bypass the compressor the belt does not make enough contact with the water pump pulley to properly turn it - it just barely makes contact with the pulley when I run it from the pwr steering pulley to the main crankshaft pulley.

I'm up in the air on the bypass pulley or rebuilt compressor...$35.00 or $250.00. I feel confident I can take out the compressor and replace with the bypass pulley, but if I install a new compressor than I have to have someone drain it properly and recharge the system. Then I'm sure they'll want me to replace the dryer as well. Then again having a/c for the amount I drive would be nice:-)

So I have to remove the whole a/c compressor to use the bypass pulley? Too bad it just couldn't connect to the existing unit somehow...that would be too easy:-)))

Any idea how much a garage charges to drain and recharge the system? Can they do it after I install the new compressor? Right now it's stuck in my garage..

Thanks for all your help!!

Joubster

[RareGMFan]

Sorry I missed your reply. Yes, you'll basically have to remove the A/C compressor either way, whether you replace the compressor with another one, or with an A/C delete pulley. There's really no way to put a pulley on a locked up A/C compressor, and have it spin freely. Not to mention, the delete was designed for cars that came without A/C, so obviously they're not going to add the pulley onto an A/C compressor from the factory. They didn't have it in mind that it would be used for the purposes of bypassing a shot compressor.

It will cost substantially more to put in a new compressor, but as you said, it's nice to have A/C, and you're going to be going through the same pain in the ass procedure with either option. If you can spare it, I'd find a deal on a new or rebuilt compressor (check eBay, I've found some killer deal for such parts in the past) and just give yourself a working A/C system. Bleeding and recharging it really shouldn't be much, vs. the freon of old. There are kits to do that yourself for around $30.

[joubster]

Thanks for the reply. I did end up installing a bypass pulley. The job went very well and only took me 45 minutes. Working find now, albeit with no a/c :-((((

Thanks for all your help!

Have a nice summer.

Joubster