Safe to remove A/C belt on 89 Caravan 3.0 L?

Question

Hi, Gang:I have an 89 Grand Caravan that, despite 201k miles on the clock, stillruns and looks pretty good. Of course, its on its third tranny andsecond engine...but that's another Caravan tale... :)During a long road trip a few months ago, my A/C compressor more orless died. I had the fan/blower on for defrost which, I guess, must runthe A/C for some reason. Anyway, when I stopped for gas I heard a nastysquealing noise under the hood that stopped when I turned off theinterior fan. I also noticed that the A/C compressor was toasty hot andhad oozed most of all of whatever was lubricating it internally. Ihaven't turned on the fan since....But now that it's winter in MN...I'd like the fan on for heat anddefrost...but I don't have a spare pile of cash laying around to fixthe A/C...I'd like to simply disconnect the A/C belt because it's not worthfixing... So...1. Does the 89 3.0 L run the a/c on its own belt? (I think it does.)2. If so, can I simply disconnect it, disabling the compressor (whilestill running the blower for normal heating and defrosting)?Thanks for your help,--KK in MN

Mike · Accepted Answer

Wouldn't it be easier to just unplug the A/C compressor clutch ?

maxpower · Answer

Yes it does have its own belt, since the clutch is probably shot causing the compressor to stay engaged all the time you will have to remove the belt. A disconnect of the connector will not work. The only problem here is when you get allot of moisture in the vehicle from the snow, your windows will collect it and the inop a/c will not get it out. That is why the a/c request has been programmed into the defrost mode.

Glenn Beasley Chrysler Tech

maxpower · Answer

Yes it does have its own belt, since the clutch is probably shot causing the compressor to stay engaged all the time you will have to remove the belt. A disconnect of the connector will not work. The only problem here is when you get allot of moisture in the vehicle from the snow, your windows will collect it and the inop a/c will not get it out. That is why the a/c request has been programmed into the defrost mode.

Glenn Beasley Chrysler Tech

Scrapper · Answer

yes it's safe if it's not going around water pump or altanator it will be all rite...if not go get a belt and tell them it don't have air..as i done this to my a 1992 saturn and it worked fine...but it only had 1 belt...but like i say it worked....

GOOD LUCK.......

SCRAPPER....

MT-2500 · Answer

As said no problem with removing it.For a fast easy removal just cut or snip the old belt and pull it outof there.Some of the 3.0 L V6 engines make it to or over 250K.Good Luck

philthy · Answer

just cut the belt with a pair of wire cutters or similar tool and unplug thecompressor and if the cab gets foggy crack the windowsmaxpower wrote:

Safe to remove A/C belt on 89 Caravan 3.0 L?

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