Ok so last night my fiance and I were going to leave to go to the grocery store and started my truck. It'd been making a sound for some time but we figured it out to be exhaust sound. He felt the truck and aaid it was coming straight off the engine and was the valve train grinding itself , or so he thought that's what it felt like. So I called a friend and asked about her friend that sells vehicles I seriously was going to be trading my truck in like today. She gave me his information and I said I'd contact him this morning. So we went grocery shopping. Finished and went to the bank. At the atm my fiance again asked me to pop my hood. Put his hand on the a/c compressor and came back to the truck with a smile. Said it wasn't valve train and truck didn't need to be traded. Just said we would start saving for a new one.5 minutes and less than one mile later I got home. I shut the truck off and popped the hood because he was gonna show me what he was talking about. He told me to turn the truck back on. So I reached in turned it on and it shut off about 2 seconds later. I know my positive battery connection was loose yesterday morning so I popped the hood and checked that. That wasn't the situation. He told me to just start the truck again. So I did and just saw a ton of smoke come off the engine. He yelled to shut the truck off so I did. He said my compressor's clutch just took a dump.

So anyway. We searched dodge forum last night. It looks like my three options are:
1. Buy new compressor.
2. Buy an a/c compressor bypass pulley.
3. Buy a non-a/c belt and use it.

So financially my options are 2 & 3.

Any suggestions which one, if there's a difference, will be the best option.

Thanks for reading. Sorry its long.

 

New belt is gonna run you about the same as a used compressor. In all honesty I'd go to the local junkyard and find a used one, mine went out and your windows fog up everytime it rains.

 

I think you should just sell/trade it in this morning.

 

The problem with that is I'm unemployed. The loan is in my fiance's name. He's getting out of the Navy is 8 months. It would've been fine if when the truck ran we traded it in and got a loan for like 6 grand. However now, since we still owe on the truck, we won't get what we owe and will have an even harder time getting a loan. The A/C Compressor Bypass Pulley is 37.99 special order from AutoZone.

Our main concern is whether or not it will actually go onto the truck and what the logistics of that are. We haven't looked into pricing for the Non A/C belt pricing. He doesn't know how to route that kind of belt so he doesn't even know that he wants to use it.

I'd look into the junkyard A/C Compressor option however, our junkyard doesn't have any Dodge pickups there.

 

The bypass will be a bolt on. Just pull the compressor and bolt the bypass in its place. You will need to cap off the ac lines to keep any dirt out of them( if you plan on using it down the road).

Non ac belt will be routed the same just won't go over the ac compressor(will need to remove ac compressor)

There should be a belt routing diagram on your radiator support. Showing ac and non ac belt setups.

 

Is the compressor seized? Or just the clutch bearings? If its just the clutch bearings, you can replace the clutch assembly.....

Or, check local wrecking yards, and just get a used compressor.

 

I'm trying to upload pictures. I'm thinking the whole compressor seized. There's shiny metal shavings all of the exterior of my compressor and the hoses around.

 

Upload pics to someplace like photobucket, or imageshack, then, just use the image tags to post the pics in the thread.

 

Good luck finding just the clutch for the compressor. Last summer, I loaded the truck, went to the bank, got some gas and then stopped at home to say bye for the weekend fishing trip. Jump in the truck and EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEeeeee compressor clutch seized up.

Found a new compressor at the local junker a week or so later and swapped the clutch. No need to replace the compressor unless absolutely necessary. Costs less then $100 (unless your yards suck) and takes about 30 minutes to clean and swap everything.

AZ has the rental tools needed to remove the pulley. You'll need a bigger pair of snap ring pliers than those little standard ones.

If I remember correctly, you can turn the compressor shaft by hand, remove the clutch assembly and pulley to verify the compressor is shot before going through the hassle.

 

For now, we went out and bought the bypass pulley. Josh is installing it now as I cook dinner. HOPEFULLY, fingers crossed and knocking on wood, the truck will be back on the road tonight.