Taurus Car Club of America : Ford Taurus Forum banner

2004 Duratec AC Clutch repair from bottom without lowering subframe

4K views 13 replies 7 participants last post by  spazmaster 
#1 · (Edited)
A month or so back, I managed to replace the AC clutch on my 2004 Duratec from the bottom without lowering the subframe.

I was planning to attack it from above but my offset wrench was the wrong size / shape to get onto the clutch bolt. I do understand that with the right offset wrench you can do this from above, but I found it was quite simple doing this from the bottom, and one advantage was it was easy to get a hand onto the clutch to hold it still, remove it to try different washers and measure the air gap.

You will need 2 things

1) A wobble socket set. I used this: https://www.harborfreight.com/9-pc-wobble-socket-extension-set-67971.html
2) An assistant although it may be possible without one

Steps

1) Remove the front passenger wheel and front inner fender shield
2) Locate the hole in the wheel well through which you will get a socket onto the ac clutch bolt. Watch this video to see the locations of the inside and outside holes.

https://youtu.be/DJJLQ_e_RJU?t=42

Note that there is an outer and inner panel and a hollow space between. The single hole that you see on the outside panel is directly opposite another hole on the inside panel. However, the inner hole that you want to go through which is directly in front of the ac clutch bolt is slightly offset to the outer panel hole.

Note there is no need to make another hole as in the video, the wobble sockets will let you maneuver the socket through the offset outside and inside holes.

3) Put your socket on the shortest 1/4 wobble extension and then put that extension on the next shortest 1/4 wobble extension.

4) Poke the socket through the outer hole up and to the left to get it into the inner hole. You can put your hand up between the inner hole and the ac clutch to feel the location differences between the two inner holes. An assistant looking down should be able to tell you what adjustments to make to get the socket through the correct inner hole.

5) Once through the inner hole, your assistant can help you locate the socket onto the bolt. You may be able to do this through trial and error or even by using your other hand.

6) You should then be able to hold the clutch with your left hand while undoing the bolt with a ratcheting wrench in your right hand.

Other Thoughts

1) I used a Motorcraft replacement AC clutch and found that the original washer created the right air gap.

2) I did not change the ac pulley. From the bottom however, you are far closer to the pulley and it seems it would be easier to get snap ring pliers onto the snap ring. It is also possible that an inspection camera could be routed between the outer and inner holes to let you see what you are doing.

3) Another member used this offset wrench to get to the bolt through the top, albeit with moving some things out of the way. It may be possible to use this wrench from the bottom and not have to go through the holes.

https://www.harborfreight.com/8-piece-metric-offset-box-wrench-set-32042.html?hftref=cj
 
See less See more
#2 ·
Nice job detailing how to access this from the underside of the car. This is one of those jobs that can be approached from both directions. I have the luxury of a U Pull yard 15 mins from my house so I could go there and practice to see which method I felt more comfortable with before attempting it on my own car. When I finally felt ready to tackle this project, I went at it from the top and it wasn't bad. Just used a small 8 mm box end wrench to get the bolt off. It was tight between the clutch and the inner fender frame...but, I was able to get my fingers down in there to break it loose (it isn't that tight of a bolt). Fun part was using a mirror-on-a-stick and maneuvering a 90 degree tip snap ring pliers to remove the c-clip to get the pulley/brg ass'y off. Fortunately, this was as far as I had to go to fix things and the compressor has worked flawlessly since.
 
#3 · (Edited)
Thanks. I intended to do this from the top and had all the tools but my offset wrench was too chunky.

A few other advantages in going through the bottom:

1) I was also changing the serpentine belt and the ac clutch had thrown a lot of rust onto the old belt and onto the pulleys. I was able to easily clean the bottom of pulleys inaccessible from the top. It was good to know that I'd gotten all the junk off the pulleys before putting on a new belt.

2) I was able to see and hear the crankshaft pulley once I restarted the car. There was a slight noise which I'm leaving for now.

3) I could also access a couple of oil pan bolts which I was unable to tighten from the bottom. I completely forgot to tighten them though. Doh! There was definitely a lot of dried up oil on that side.

4) If it is necessary to change the magnetic coil, I think it would be helpful to run a long piece of wood from the top to the bottom and apply equal pressure to press it in. As mentioned, I also suspect removing the snap ring for the pulley would have been easier.
 
#6 ·
Ha!

I do already know the answer to that. Give it to a shop!
 
#9 ·
Got a picture? I don't know how you don't have clearance, there would be enough clearance even if you didn't lower the subframe. The lowering just gives you access to the 8mm bolt. Did you unbolt the passenger strut nuts up top and dog bone as well? If you didn't, then thats probably why.
 
#10 · (Edited)
Mine just started making noise, although it blows ice cold with no grinding sound when it's engaged... am super intimated by the idea of dropping the subframe.

Can I get an opinion on this? ac clutch/pulley issues (fiddling with the pulley)
That's a broken a/c clutch, right? Should I replace the pulley and coil while I'm down there, or just the clutch?
180k miles - it runs smooth and blows cold when the A/C is engaged.
 
#11 ·
Mine just started making noise, although it blows ice cold with no grinding sound when it's engaged... am super intimated by the idea of dropping the subframe.

Can I get an opinion on this? My thought is the bearing, but am still new to this.
ac clutch/pulley issues (fiddling with the pulley)

That's a broken a/c clutch, right? Should I replace the pulley and coil while I'm down there, or just the clutch?
180k miles - it runs smooth and blows cold when the A/C is engaged.
The clutch plate you are turning is supposed to flex because it gets pulled into the pulley when the clutch coil gets energized. What has happened to me is the bearing in the pulley bearing fails and the pulley wobbles or tilts and contacts the clutch plate and ticks or scrapes. That plate heats up and the rubber isolation bushings melt and deform and fails.
 

Attachments

This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top