Yup, I did it last year, back in March. Much easier with the
compressor laying out where you can get to it, but can be done, barely,
with it on a vehicle. I'm assuming what you have is like a lot of
other Ford products, an A/C clutch that operates according to what a
pressure switch senses. You need to know exactly what make and model
of compressor you've got, there's web sites out there that can either
ship you a complete compressor with clutch, just the clutch or just the
bearing. Usually finding out means having to scrape layers of gooey
gunk off the pig to find the cast-in letters. You can rent for free
the special tools needed from Autozone(see website) and others. If
it's like the FS6 compressor on my buggy, you'll need a clutch plate
holder, like a three-legged pin spanner, to remove the center nut, then
you'll need a special internal puller to get the clutch plate off.
There's a big retaining ring holding the pulley on, you need to take
the pulley off to get to the bearing(or to replace the whole works). I
had to get some oversized long-nosed retaining ring pliers with 90
degree offsets to do that with the thing on the engine. Worked with a
mirror, needed three hands. There's a special puller needed to get the
pulley off, too. Once you have the pulley in hand, you can knock the
retaining tabs back on the bearing sleeve and tap the bearing out.
It's got a standard number, nobody but A/C suppliers have it, though.
Large inside and outside diameters, really small pins. I think the one
I used set me back like $20 off the web, showed up in three days. It
was about a $100 charge for all the tools I needed from Autozone, it
was reimbursed when I brought them back. After the bearing
replacement, I cleaned up the worn clutch surfaces on pulley and clutch
plate(a lathe is handy for that, careful file work might do), then
readjusted the clutch plate gap. Was much quieter running after that.
The regular service manuals kind of suck on this stuff. I lucked on to
this site last year, look he
http://www.warnerelectric.com/pdf_fr...stallation.asp
Down in "Vehicular" there at least a couple of pdfs that will help out.
One shows how to pull the thing off the Ford A/C compressor, the other
shows how to gap the clutch plate. I gapped for minimum clearance and
things not only were much quieter, I think it had been slipping before
so things were cooler, too. DON"T LOSE THE SPACER WASHERS UNDER THE
CLUTCH PLATE! They set the gap. So I've got a light "click" now,
where I had a loud "CLUNK" before when the clutch engaged. If there's
ridges worn in, it'll be really hard to set the gap correctly without
resurfacing.
Have tools and parts in hand before you start, nothing like having to
stop for several days while parts/tools get shipped in. Depending on
your circumstances, it might be cheaper/faster/easier to get a whole
new or refurbed clutch assembly than to mess around replacing a bearing
and cleaning up clutch plates. I think mine was like $250-300 at the
chain parts places, I figured I could beat that with a $20 bearing and
a little work. I did mine leisurely over a long 3-day weekend, once
that pulley is off, you aren't going anywhere with the vehicle.
Depending on how cramped your engine compartment is, you may have to
move or remove at least the fan shroud, maybe the fan and maybe(if
you're really unlucky) the radiator. The pulley puller takes up the
most space, front to back.
Here's some online outfits I've done some auto A/C parts and tooling
business with in the past, some have pictures/drawings of the tools you
need:
http://www.airpartsonline.com
http://mvpro.com/mall/ac_tools_1.asp
http://www.sherco-auto.com/
http://www.aapak.com/
http://www.ackits.com/
Don't remember which site I got the bearing from, though. That and the
clutch surface cleanup and regapping seemed to be all that was needed
to quiet things down.
Stan