Thread: Freelander Aircon compressor

My sister was out driving her Freelander the other day and heard a "banging/knocking noise" from under the bonnet. It went away though after a while so of course she kept driving it although noticed the aircon was no longer working.

I got to it later in the day and after removing the bash plate (surely it doesnt need THAT many fasteners!!!) found the aircon clutch bolt had come loose and dropped out and the clutch had simply dropped off into the bashplate area. I put it back together but only after I appllied the locktight and had the bashplate back on did I see the washer. I just did the bolt up firmly and with no washer, now the aircon is permenantly on.
How does it work? Is there a specific tension I need to do the bolt up to? Does that washer just go on infront of the bolt or is it something tricky and go between the clutch and the aircon itself?

Hope all that makes sense, all and any help appreciated.

J

Found your post very useful. I had very much the same experience. The banging/knocking was a sound of death! I thought something really serious was happening to the engine, so violent was the sound. I was somewhat relieved when turning the aircon off seemed to remove the dreadul noises. Not long after, the aircon appeared not to work any more. So that seemed like damage potentially limited to the aircon.

Well, even after reading your post, I anticipated it was far more serious that just a clutch flying off, so I had the gas drained off. In the process of removing the undertray, to remove the compressor to be refurbished, I found the clutch lying there. Unfortunately no bolt, washer or shims.

I found a suitable bolt and washer and reinstalled everything. There wasn't much enthusiasm from the system, this I ascribed to the absence of gas. Next day I had my gas returned to the system and wow! fabulous cool air! Unlike Juff's experience, even with no shim washers, the system doesn't remain engaged at all times. It works quite normally, and I am hoping that I might get away with no shims.

Does anyone have a description of what the shims look like - diameter, material of fabrication, etc? I gather from a search for Denso compressors on the web, that the shims usually set the distance between the hub and clutch to around 0.33 to 0.65 mm. Perhaps I should try to insert a thin shim in there, to obviate any problems?