Hi guys,

First post here - nice to meet you all

I've had my Hybrid since 2005; Recently I have had to drive in hot weather up to the Bay Area from Los Angeles several times. While driving this past weekend, I noticed a slight "growl" or even a "rattle" coming from the engine bay, with the air conditioning OFF. When I popped the hood, the growl/rattle could be felt if I put my hand on one of the AC hoses.

I then tried turning the air conditioning ON and the rattle/growl went away.

After consulting a couple forum posts, it sounds like it could be the bearing in the AC compressor pulley - but if this is the case, why would there be a rattle if the air conditioning was OFF, and go away when it was on? Wouldn't the added strain on the compressor cause more of a rattle? Or does it have something to do with the AC compressor clutch?

If anyone out there could help me diagnose this problem, I'd really appreciate it. I'm planning on replacing the shocks and front brakes this upcoming weekend as I have some more long drives ahead of me.

Thanks!

Tyler

 

Does anyone have any ideas what it could be? Is bearing noise from one of the other accessories a possibility? If so, what's a good way to diagnose that? It's very challenging to figure out exactly where the noise is coming from. All i know is that when I turn the air conditioner ON, the noise goes away.... so I'm assuming it's either the compressor pulley... is there an air conditioner idler pulley?

 

Compressor clutch rub. It may need to be re-shimmed.

 

Purchased a clutch rebuild kit off ebay for 40 bucks; came with shims, a new japanese bearing and a center nut. Took a lot longer to replace it than i anticipated due to the super small constraints of the car...

I replaced the one shim located on the center spline, pressed out/hammered out the old bearing and gently tapped the new bearing it. Reinstalling the pulley onto the compressor was surprisingly difficult - i had to jury rig a flat piece of metal connected to a pipe so i could tap it on - otherwise it kept going on ****-eyed. I also had to loosen one of the bumper clips to give myself enough space.

but got it all on and back together, and the sound is fixed. Not bad for 40 bucks. Dealer quoted 1400, and I didn't even have to disconnect the AC lines.

 

My wife gives me flack for refusing to go to dealerships, this is exactly why. Great to see you resolved the issue!