2010 AC Compressor failed!

I was fortunate. I just swapped the clutch hub with the unit still in the truck as the compressor turned smoothly and the pulley turned quietly with no play. Total time was about 3 hours driving to get it plus an hour to change it.

I found a used compressor from an '07 with 57k miles for about $160.

The A/C works perfectly again. The factory clutch hub was missing one spacer washer when I took it apart compared to the used one I picked up; I don't know whether that contributed to the failure by allowing the hub to rub against the pulley and getting it hot. As the rubber separated from the factory hub at the inner disk it had never pulled away from the pulley after its final engagement, so who knows how close it was sitting before it failed.

I'm just hoping I didn't have too much steel ground off the pulley. Time will tell. Plenty of red dust came out with compressed air. It did wear evenly as far as I can tell and the plate spacing is within a couple thousandths of what the new used unit was before I took it apart.

I really wish Toyota would sell clutch as individual parts. It doesn't make sense for these rubber failures on this Delphi clutch hub to necessitate buying a new coil or a new compressor altogether.

Anyways, better quality pics


Here you can see the clutch hub failure. Rubber separated from the inner disk. It's supposed to be like the outer part of the hub with the rubber nearly flush with the steel.






New used unit, apparently hasn't been on the truck for a little while judging by the pulley




Both clutch hubs off. The new intact hub came off with the help of an oil filter band wrench; the one on the truck needed a c-clamp to pinch the rubber so I could stop the shaft from turning while I removed the bolt. Old hub is on the left. I found the missing red plug right after I took this picture

For those who've never disassembled an electric clutch, here you can see how it works. The magnetic coil underneath the pulley (you can see the wires for it) magnetizes the pulley, which pulls the outer part of the clutch hub into it, thus driving the compressor. That's why the rubber is there - the inner clutch hub is fixed to the compressor shaft but the outer part has to be able to move to the pulley. Most electric clutches use long-lasting steel straps for that though instead of rubber which is why the PTO clutch on a 30-year-old lawn tractor can still work today.




A/C running with the new clutch hub. I'll probably have to rinse the rest of that dust off. Compressed air only did so much.




And my little friend who likes to watch

 

Mine began to fail at 60k on my 2015. Bearings started going. You could hear them whine and I always thought I could tell the AC was extra parasitic to the power versus my 2007.