Hi. New to the forum, definitely not new to problems with my 1999 Dodge Ram (100k+ miles). Just took a long trip pulling a boat through mountains and hot weather. A/C still works and blows cold air but there is a new noise coming from the engine. Starts up and runs fine but fan sounds bad, gets worse when a/c is on which is my only lead as to why it might be an a/c issue. No overheating and fan runs fine. Could it be the clutch in the a/c going bad?

Thanks!

 

Is it the fan or could it maybe be the accessory belt? What kind of noise is it?

 

could be but need more info does it only happen with a/c on? your fan will operate more with a/con due to having to cool refrigerant in condenser. also what type of noise is it? squeaking, grinding bad vibration please describe.

 

If its a light grinding noise it might be the alternator, cause mine makes the same noise. It would do it more with the AC on because its drawing more current from the alternator and making it work harder.

 

It could be the tensioner pully....I have had the bearings on those go bad...and an extra load like the ac sometimes makes them have more friction causing noise...a little WD-40 on the bearing of that it you will know if its that or not...But replace it if the WD-40 quiets it since it means the bearing is dry.

 

Gringing huh? Well, along with the alternator and tentioner check to see if theres small amouts of coolant coming out of the water pump, if there is thats the problem. But if the water pumps griding like that, it usually mean it has a REAL short life left. Just a thought

 

Sorry for the late response and thanks for the feedback but shortly after writing the post we drove the truck another 5 hours and broke the serpentine belt. The noise turned out to be the compressor which affected a bunch of other stuff. Could have been worse I suppose. Breaking down on a clear day at a stoplight 20 feet from a well-lit gas station and 3 miles from home is about the best way to do it if you could choose your breakdowns.

A/C is fixed now but how ironic that we choose not to run it to conserve gas!!!

 

Thanks for the info...Its allways good to see what the real problem was.

 

Glad to hear you've got everything working right again!