P38A Aircon Compressor Clutch

When I was in Seattle, I looked under the bonnet of rrtoadhall's P38A, then turned to him and said, "Your clutch is falling off".

The nut was that loose, it wouldn't have been long before it was gone.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by p38arover

As most early P38A owners will know, the air con clutch would occasionally not engage and eventually it slips and wears to the point where it rarely engages.

An early fix was to remove a shim behind the clutch but this only deferred the problem.

LR came up with a mod. kit, the aircon Compressor Link Harness, to increase the applied voltage to the compressor clutch:



I removed the shim in mine about 7 years ago, and fitted the link harness about 3-4 years ago, and this cured the problem - I thought.

However, yesterday the compressor clutch failed to engage once more. The clutch had worn even more and the air gap was too great.

Following a suggestion from Scouse, I pulled the clutch off today, put it in the lathe, and machined off 25 thou from the back of the clutch spigot. That reduced the air gap back to within spec (0.35-0.65mm) and all is well once more.

When I pulled the clutch off, I found it had been wearing unevenly so I'll keep an eye out for another one (secondhand from a failed compressor).

Note the wear at the lower left:


https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/im...009/07/447.jpg

The bit I machined down:

https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/im...009/07/448.jpg

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Hi Ron, old post dragged up but do you remember how to get the clutch off the front.

Hi Rob,

If I recall correctly, I used a strap wrench to hold the clutch from rotating while I undid the nut.

Last time I had to undo a clutch centre nut I just engaged the clutch.