Before I begin, I did search, but I didn't find an answer to my particular question(s).

My wife's 96 2.4 liter Caravan recently (besides the usual tranny problems that they're apparently famous for) decided to kill the AC compressor. Violently. After finally ascertaining that it was the compressor making all those horrible grinding, full of metal shavings, metal to metal noises, I checked the belt routing diagram to see if I could just buy the non AC serpentine belt and bypass the compressor. (I'm not spending more for the compressor than the van is worth, not to mention having the entire system flushed for shavings and then vacced down, refilled and hopefully clear of shavings the next time the AC gets turned on)

I discovered that I can buy a bypass pulley, remove the compressor and keep the original AC belt, but I'd rather spend $15 on a belt than $50 on a pulley, not to mention having to empty the system of refrigerant in an environmentally safe and legal manner so I can remove the compressor.

Looking at the belt routing, I was wondering if I can run the non-A/C belt with the idler pulley still in place (understanding of course that the ribbed side of the belt will hit the smooth pulley), or do I need to remove that pulley wheel completely?


I can't believe I'm the first person to ever have this issue, so what's the easy cheapest fix? She doesn't care about the AC, but she would like to be able to drive it.

I appreciate any help you guys can give me. I don't mind her driving my car once in a while, but she either drives it like an old lady or she forgets it's not stock anymore and spins the tires leaving the light, and we really do need two vehicles for work.

Thanks,
Jon

 

Hi Jon
You will need to remove the idler pully.

 

Yay. (by the way, you guys have a HELLUVA lot of smileys.)

Hopefully it's easier than my quick glance made it look, but I appreciate the quick definite answer. Looks like I know how part of my day tomorrow is going to go.

Thanks!

 

Thanks again, master tech.

Once a buddy asked me if it would be easier with the overflow bottle out of the way (it's amazing what you miss when you're focusing on a problem) it took me about 5 minutes to do the job, and the Caravan sounds better than it has since we got it.

I just wanted to offer my appreciation again.