AC Clutch Failure - How to fix! (blinking light, squealing)

Alright my turn to request some help folks. I've read through this whole thread 3 times now. I just finished replacing my clutch hub and it did not solve my issue.

Conditions when AC is off: clutch hub is disengaged and does not spin. Pulley spins with belt and doesn't make any noise while spinning. Cant speak to how smoothly but it seems to be good.
When I use defroster or press AC button:
Magnet seems to engage and pull the clutch hub in. Clutch hub begins to spin with pulley, but makes an awful grinding noise. I'll post a video of grinding noise below. Before the new clutch hub, the clutch would disengage intermittently and stop making noise, then would re-engage, etc... now with new clutch hub installed, hub engagement and grinding noise seem to be continuous and consistent while AC is on.
So when AC is on, clutch engages, spins, and starts making the noise, then when I turn it off, clutch stops spinning and no more noise.
I figure the magnet is good because its properly engaging and disengaging the clutch. The clutch hub is good because I just put the new one on (old one didnt look bad either). I figure the pulley/bearing is good as it spins with the belt, although I could pull the belt and free hand spin it to see if it feels rough at all.
I'm at a loss where to go next. My issue sounds slightly different than the others I've read.

https://youtu.be/7k2RoGcZuVg

 

Your compressor is eating itself up inside. And pumping metal bits thru the rest of the system. Your wallet is gonna take a hit.

 

Oh joy
Best bet at the moment then would be to disconnect the AC clutch relay fuse from the engine bay fuse box and just not let it get activated? That should not allow any further damage until i can get it replaced right?
Thanks for response.

 

That would be a good thing to do. Good luck. Are you going to replace the compressor yourself?

 

If it's as much of a pain as people are making it out to be i might not have the ability to do so. Have never touched an AC system or messed with the refrigerant lines, etc... But I've got a few mechanically oriented friends i could turn to before taking it to a shop somewhere.

 

There are some good threads on here. There is also some very bad advice in some of them. Internet, ya know?

 

Oh the internet lol.. exactly why i like to read ALL the info out there (as time consuming as that is).Thanks for the heads up I'll delve into the research on that after the stress from today's failed repair wears off
Thanks for assistance and insight! Love these forums.

 

Is this kit okay to buy? Unfortunately the links on here from older posts no longer work to ebay.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/A-C-AC-Com...-Compressor-US/352912760042?fits=Model:Tacoma

 

It's ebay, you're taking a level of risk with any of the links posted. Looks right in my 1/2 second look.

 

Thank you for the diy, saved me a lot of money for a cheap part

 

So my truck is making a noise that seems to be coming from the ac compressor. The noise occurs when turning on the ac or putting it on Drive/Reverse. It did notice a burn plastic smell coming from around the driver side a couple of weeks back. Are these still symptoms of a bad ac clutch? TIA

 

Can be a bad clutch yes, check the pulley (WHEN THE TRUCK IS OFF) and feel if there's any loose rubber coming off of it.

 

So I actually got some time to take it off and found lots of red dust but doesn’t seem to bad to be making all that noise.here is what it looks like please can someone let me know if it looks bad before I got any furthers. The first part that comes off does fell a bit rough

 

the front part is the clutch, bottom piece in the top picture. If it’s bad it will either split into two pieces or be able to spin within itself, which means the rubber bushing failed, which is where the noise came from for my case.

 

OP thank you for alerting us to this somewhat common problem and schooling us on eliminating a wallet theft by the stealership.

I had the tell-tale characteristics and ordered a replacement AC clutch via ebay. The one I received only had one washer for the clutch air gap and initial measurements had me thinking that the gap was too large with the one washer and that I'd need to use one of the thin washers from the remains of the old assembly. When measuring the gap I had to measure further down towards the center to get an accurate measurement. For some reason with just measuring the outside perimeter I'd get a looser gap measurement than if I measured down towards the center. Seemed the mating surfaces of the magnet had a slight ridge and tighter fit after the outer 1/3" of the perimeter. I did try a thin washer initially with a gap that was correct on the outer perimeter but the clutch assembly, once activated would not release from the magnet. Switching back to the thicker washer that came with the clutch resolved the problem and provided an accurate gap further towards the center of the clutch.

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I was able to do to the entire job from top down without removing anything on a 2006 4 cyl 5 speed. Tight working conditions but with some technique and some scraped forearms I was able to get it done. Had a small vice grip which helped hold the clutch and a 3/8 drive ratchet with a longer tube over it to gain leverage to loosen the bolt, which was rather tight.

Certainly feel happy that for $35 I resolved a dilemma that I was expecting to cost upwards of $1000 if I ever wanted to feel cool air conditioning in the summer.

Hoping I can also make a valuable contribution one day to assist fellow Tacoma owners with some good advice.

 

I thought I needed to charge my AC system. Once I did charge it, it made the clicking noise. After a few tries, pulley was hot to the touch. Clutch was visually seized. Later on I attempted to demonstrate the dilemma to a friend and I was already out of freon! It leaked out in hours
Now I have a bad clutch and massive leak somewhere. Sorry for the environment gretta..

 

That made me chuckle.

 

If your clutch got really hot it may have cooked the compressor shaft seal, causing it to leak.

 

How dare you!

 

OK then!.