There should be no special tool. If you are thinking of using a puller, beware. Damage could easily result.
The brush cannot be installed upside down.
The contacts are separate. One could be perfect, the other jammed.
No, the seal is not effected by the clutch.
22GT,
Thanks. This is the article that I found that referenced a clutch holder tool. Looks like a ratchet fits into it to hold it in place while another socket/wrench is used to loosen the bolt.
I'll be removing the brush bracket to check the state of the contacts. From everything gleaned here, both ends are supposed to stick out enough to touch the brass contact plate on the back of the clutch, right?
__________________
1965 Fastback Mustang
Rangoon Red
289ci V8, 4-speed Toploader
22GT,
Thanks. This is the article that I found that referenced a clutch holder tool. Looks like a ratchet fits into it to hold it in place while another socket/wrench is used to loosen the bolt.
I'll be removing the brush bracket to check the state of the contacts. From everything gleaned here, both ends are supposed to stick out enough to touch the brass contact plate on the back of the clutch, right?
The tool I was thinking of has a handle instead of using a breaker bar but
as long as the spacing is correct that will work.
Yes, the brushes should move freely in their holder and have spring action
to keep them both in good contact with the contact plate.
Let me add some new information to this thread for future users. First, thank you all for your insights. I spoke with one of the Classic Auto Air reps yesterday and their first concern was if the clutch had been properly inserted onto the compressor tapered spline. There is a keyway that ensures that the clutch goes on only one way. If the clutch is not on all the way/properly installed, then the jerking/tweaking action can be a result.
I called my mechanic and he stopped by with the air compressor. We got the bolt broke and removed that. The clutch needs to be popped off by inserting a 5/8 corse threaded bolt into the same hole that the bolt went into to hold the clutch to the compressor. With a little force and another person holding the clutch in place, the clutch pops off by twisting the 5/8" bolt tight.
We confirmed that the clutch was on correctly. The mechanic rememberd the keyway and he showed me what it would've looked like if we had installed it incorrectly.
Once the clutch was off, I removed the clutch brush assembly. I poked a small screw driver into both holes. Both pieces when inside just fine, but the passenger side one (top in the original picture) only came out to be even with the brush assembly. In other words, the carbon piece never purtruded out farther and definetly didn't have enough to make contact to the brass ring plate on the back of the compressor. On the flip side, the drivers side contact did purtrude enough to make slight contact with the plate.
Upon closer inspection, it looks as though the passenger side contact may have been sheared or broken off. Maybe with the intial use of a busted compressor? Either way, it seems that the next move is to get a clutch brush assembly (part# 8-107) from Classic Auto Air.
This is where I stand now. I'mk attaching some pics of the clutch brush assembly to show you what I'm talking about. Please write back and weigh in with your thoughts. I still don't understand the engineering side of how these contacts mate with the brass ring to properly energize the clutch. If someone could explain that a little better, that would be great! I'm all about learning about this stuff.
~matt
__________________
1965 Fastback Mustang
Rangoon Red
289ci V8, 4-speed Toploader
Let me add some new information to this thread for future users. First, thank you all for your insights. I spoke with one of the Classic Auto Air reps yesterday and their first concern was if the clutch had been properly inserted onto the compressor tapered spline. There is a keyway that ensures that the clutch goes on only one way. If the clutch is not on all the way/properly installed, then the jerking/tweaking action can be a result.
I called my mechanic and he stopped by with the air compressor. We got the bolt broke and removed that. The clutch needs to be popped off by inserting a 5/8 corse threaded bolt into the same hole that the bolt went into to hold the clutch to the compressor. With a little force and another person holding the clutch in place, the clutch pops off by twisting the 5/8" bolt tight.
We confirmed that the clutch was on correctly. The mechanic rememberd the keyway and he showed me what it would've looked like if we had installed it incorrectly.
Once the clutch was off, I removed the clutch brush assembly. I poked a small screw driver into both holes. Both pieces when inside just fine, but the passenger side one (top in the original picture) only came out to be even with the brush assembly. In other words, the carbon piece never purtruded out farther and definetly didn't have enough to make contact to the brass ring plate on the back of the compressor. On the flip side, the drivers side contact did purtrude enough to make slight contact with the plate.
Upon closer inspection, it looks as though the passenger side contact may have been sheared or broken off. Maybe with the intial use of a busted compressor? Either way, it seems that the next move is to get a clutch brush assembly (part# 8-107) from Classic Auto Air.
This is where I stand now. I'mk attaching some pics of the clutch brush assembly to show you what I'm talking about. Please write back and weigh in with your thoughts. I still don't understand the engineering side of how these contacts mate with the brass ring to properly energize the clutch. If someone could explain that a little better, that would be great! I'm all about learning about this stuff.
~matt
Glad to see that you have the problem figured out.
I had the same thing happen with mine, with the brush assy
on the compressor over the years there gets to be a build up on
the sides of the brushes keeping them from pushing out toward
the contact ring. I worked with mine and was able to get both
brushes to move freely, you can try and see if you can do the
same with yours or a new replacement will work also.
Brushes are used also in your starter, alternator, wiper motor etc
to transfer power to a rotating assy, the A/C clutch area is more
of a harsher enviroment with oil, dirt etc that can build up, later
designs of the clutch use a magnetic field that energizes the clutch
which is more reliable.
Glad to see that you have the problem figured out.
I had the same thing happen with mine, with the brush assy
on the compressor over the years there gets to be a build up on
the sides of the brushes keeping them from pushing out toward
the contact ring. I worked with mine and was able to get both
brushes to move freely, you can try and see if you can do the
same with yours or a new replacement will work also.
Brushes are used also in your starter, alternator, wiper motor etc
to transfer power to a rotating assy, the A/C clutch area is more
of a harsher enviroment with oil, dirt etc that can build up, later
designs of the clutch use a magnetic field that energizes the clutch
which is more reliable.
Ha! Don't jinx it yet. I haven't gotten the brushes ordered/in yet. Until I get the assembly in and see the A/C working properly then I'll considered my problem and fixed
__________________
1965 Fastback Mustang
Rangoon Red
289ci V8, 4-speed Toploader
Ha! Don't jinx it yet. I haven't gotten the brushes ordered/in yet. Until I get the assembly in and see the A/C working properly then I'll considered my problem and fixed
Come on, lets have a more positive altitude! lol
or are you cautiously optimistic?
You identified a problem that is getting corrected, it has to work!
Come on, lets have a more positive altitude! lol
or are you cautiously optimistic?
You identified a problem that is getting corrected, it has to work!
Ok, so I got back into town last night and did some work on this area. First things first, the bullet male/female connections were reversed from what I had versus the new part that came in. I just decided it was easier to cut the male end off of the new clutch brush assembly and put on a new female end, since the male end was on the wire loom attached to the block and there was not a lot of extra wire to be playing around with there.
After I got the bullet connectors situated, I put the brush assembly back and and made sure to line up the key way with the clutch itself. I hand tightened down as much as I could the bolt. I had to hold the clutch with a screwdriver and give it a good turn, but I was pretty confident that I got it tightened down enough. I put the belt back on and made sure to tighten that as much as I humanly could, by myself.
I went to fire it up and test everything and got Nothing, no idiot lights, nadda. I had accidently left the keys in the ignition and turned to on for the entire weekend. Just like the idiot sidekick on Braking Bad Season 1 in the RV, I totally drained the battery. I disconnected both terminals from their leads and hooked up a trickle charger overnight. I came back out this morning and the battery looked strong enough to turn the car over.
I turned it over, and viola, the clutch engaged and cold A/C was blowing. The air at the vents was down in the low 40's. I still have to hook up the gauge lines and verify that the pressure's all look good/within their respective ranges. But for now, it seems that the problem of the clutch not engaging has been resolved.
The new clutch brush assembly has quite a lot more materiel than the old one did. I'm convinced now that the old carbon brushes were either 1) totally worn down from over time or 2) had been sheered off due to some malfunction in the clutch/compressor assembly before I fixed it all up (or rather had Classic Auto Air fix it all up).
I want to reach out and thank everyone on the forums here with their knowledge. I also want to call out Curtis at Classic Auto Air. He's been a real good teacher in all of this and has been very helpful in last minute binds. I know that this can be frowned upon on some forums, but if anyone does need/want to do business with CAA in Tampa, Curtis' extension is x7024. I highly recommend him.
Thanks again all! I'll be hooking up the A/C gauges in the next few days and verifying the high & low sides to ensure that I have the correct amount of R134a in the system. The last question/verification I have is for pressures.
I believe the ranges for the high side are typically 2.2-2.5 times greater than the ambient air in front of the condenser coil/radiator area of the car (aka front grill area). Low side should be somewhere in the 35-45 F degree range. These of course are gained when full A/C is on.
__________________
1965 Fastback Mustang
Rangoon Red
289ci V8, 4-speed Toploader
Ok, so I got back into town last night and did some work on this area. First things first, the bullet male/female connections were reversed from what I had versus the new part that came in. I just decided it was easier to cut the male end off of the new clutch brush assembly and put on a new female end, since the male end was on the wire loom attached to the block and there was not a lot of extra wire to be playing around with there.
After I got the bullet connectors situated, I put the brush assembly back and and made sure to line up the key way with the clutch itself. I hand tightened down as much as I could the bolt. I had to hold the clutch with a screwdriver and give it a good turn, but I was pretty confident that I got it tightened down enough. I put the belt back on and made sure to tighten that as much as I humanly could, by myself.
I went to fire it up and test everything and got Nothing, no idiot lights, nadda. I had accidently left the keys in the ignition and turned to on for the entire weekend. Just like the idiot sidekick on Braking Bad Season 1 in the RV, I totally drained the battery. I disconnected both terminals from their leads and hooked up a trickle charger overnight. I came back out this morning and the battery looked strong enough to turn the car over.
I turned it over, and viola, the clutch engaged and cold A/C was blowing. The air at the vents was down in the low 40's. I still have to hook up the gauge lines and verify that the pressure's all look good/within their respective ranges. But for now, it seems that the problem of the clutch not engaging has been resolved.
The new clutch brush assembly has quite a lot more materiel than the old one did. I'm convinced now that the old carbon brushes were either 1) totally worn down from over time or 2) had been sheered off due to some malfunction in the clutch/compressor assembly before I fixed it all up (or rather had Classic Auto Air fix it all up).
I want to reach out and thank everyone on the forums here with their knowledge. I also want to call out Curtis at Classic Auto Air. He's been a real good teacher in all of this and has been very helpful in last minute binds. I know that this can be frowned upon on some forums, but if anyone does need/want to do business with CAA in Tampa, Curtis' extension is x7024. I highly recommend him.
Thanks again all! I'll be hooking up the A/C gauges in the next few days and verifying the high & low sides to ensure that I have the correct amount of R134a in the system. The last question/verification I have is for pressures.
I believe the ranges for the high side are typically 2.2-2.5 times greater than the ambient air in front of the condenser coil/radiator area of the car (aka front grill area). Low side should be somewhere in the 35-45 F degree range. These of course are gained when full A/C is on.
Thanks for following up and letting us know the conclusion of the story,
glad to hear all is well and working for you.
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