A/C compressor oil leak? Clutch?

[e9999]

Odd. Just saw a line of oil -I think- spray on the inner engine bay walls, US PS, that suggests that oil is coming off the rotating front end of the compressor (clutch?). Some oilish residue on it too.

Never taken one of those apart. Is there any way for oil to come off the front only of the compressor assembly? Is there maybe oil in the clutch itself? Or could that be oil from inside the refrigerant that makes its way past some seal in the front?

 

[dallen341]

would guess front seal failing

 

[bigredmachine]

bad seal for the compressor shaft or possibly one of the line O-rings where they bolt into the compressor.

 

[inkpot]

A/C compressor is on DS? Not on any US models I have seen.

 

[e9999]

oops, meant PS, will correct, thanks

 

[e9999]

is this a purely electromagnetic clutch?

 

[bloc]

Yes.

The compressor shaft goes through the "front" or "nose" seal, all the way out to the front hub/disk with three rivets you see from the very front. The rivets are usually attached to flexible springs that allow it to be pushed back and forth slightly. There is a small nut that holds this onto the shaft. Between the hub and the compressor body is a pulley that has a roller bearing inside it.. which is allowed to spin free on the nose of the compressor. behind this pulley is an electromagnet that when energized pulls the front nose hub backward into the pulley, and the friction of it hitting the front side of the pulley is what causes the compressor shaft to spin.

most of the parts are here:

Nothing fancy like bypass valves to control flow or anything.

 

[e9999]

thanks, good to see a pic.

is this front seal, if that's what it is, reasonably easy to get and change without needing to replace the whole unit?

 

[SUMMIT CRUISERS]

That's the clutch; pressure plate and coil that you are looking at. No shaft seal there. Here's a great writeup in the 60 series forum showing in more detail about a compressor rebuild. The shaft seal and nose cone are illustrated in post #9 and #10.

FJ62 A/C overhaul with Denso 10P15C compressor rebuild

 

[e9999]

thanks but yikes! I think that does not qualify as an easy replacement... Might have to go without A/C for a while....

 

[Cruzerman]

Have you identified the type of oil? Is it PAG oil? Does the A/C work?

 

[e9999]

A/C works fine although I don't use it anymore for now. Not sure it's PAG but I'm guessing as to the origin of the oil by looking at the spray pattern - aligned with the plane of the clutch front- and residue on the clutch itself. I should check more carefully by cleaning things up and maybe putting some absorbent material on there.

If it's the front seal, looks like a fairly big job and I will lose my charge. Bummer... Then again, good time to replace Orings and do other PM in there.

 

[Cruzerman]

I'm no A/C expert, but since the oil is mixed in with the refrigerant, it would seem to me that if oil was leaking out, then the refrigerant would also leak out and the A/C would not work.