a/c clutch removal

[fordman]

how do you pull the clutch off of the york compressors? what kind of puller do i need?

[flyboy2610]

You first have to remove the bolt/washer from the center of the clutch.
You have to thread a bolt down through the middle of the clutch until it bottoms out, and hold the rest still with a spanner. Then give it a few more tuns. The bolt will push the clutch off the shaft.
I used an old spanner for an angle grinder.
I THINK it's a 5/16" coarse bolt, but it might be 3/8 coarse. Whatever size the center bolt is is what you need.

(Edited: 2-17-09 8:50 PM. And now that I think about it, I believe that the clutch has threads for a bolt larger than the center bolt was. That way the pulling bolt will sit on top of the compressor shaft instead of going down into it like the center bolt did.
Sorry if I caused you any confusion on that point.)

[fordman]

i'm going to go try it now thanks. i've been bored all day today.

[flyboy2610]

There are four bolts holding the clutch bracket to the compressor, but you've probably already gotten those off.

[fordman]

where doe sthis spanner go at? i got big bolt int there but no place for a spanner. yea those botls are out.

[flyboy2610]

You need use it in the holes on top of the clutch to hold the clutch from spinning. One clutch I had was perfectly sized for a grinder spanner. Another one I had to use to use two bolts, with two nuts on each bolt, and I used a harmonic balancer pulley puller to fashion a spanner wrench. I put one nut on the bolt, then put the bolt through the arm of the puller, then installed the second nut. I tightened up the nuts to tighten the bolts to the puller arm. I had to leave the bolts loose to get it sized to the holes on the top of the clutch, then tightened down the nuts. I used the tool tool to hold the clutch still while I tightened down the bolt in the center, and the clutch came right off.
Redneck engineering!

And now that I think about it, I believe that the clutch has threads for a bolt larger than the center bolt was. That way the pulling bolt will sit on top of the compressor shaft instead of going down into it like the center bolt did.
Sorry if I caused you any confusion on that point.

[fordman]

this one desn't have any other holes in the clutch head other than the center hole where that bolt drops down in there to puch the pulley apart. i will try and put a pipe wrench around it to hold it from turning. if i have one big enough.

[flyboy2610]

You could try suspending the pulley on a couple blocks of wood, leaving an inch or so between the compressor and the workbench, and the using a drift punch down the center hole to drive the shaft out of the pulley. Hopefully that wouldn't damage the pulley.
All the AC clutches I've removed were just pressed on the shaft, other than the center bolt you've already removed.