On my 1991 W124 300D w/ om603, it sounds like the pulley bearing on my AC compressor is going out. After starting it at the store tonight, with the AC off, I heard this low-level grinding noise from somewhere. I shut the car off, started again and the noise sort of subsided.

I took off the belt at home and spun the pulleys by hand. The AC pulley gave a slight squeaking noise when rotating, and the others spun normally.

My first question is, can I keep driving like this for the next few days, or will it seize up suddenly?

I believe the compressor itself is probably good. I've seen several other youtube
videos of people replacing the pulley bearings when they started making noise - they just press them out, put some red loctite on and press new ones on.

From searching around, it's unclear if there's a standard pulley bearing in these compressors which I could press out to replace, or if it is completely molded together and not servicable. It would save a load of money and time to just swap in new bearings...

Anyone have an idea if the AC pulley bearings can be serviced ?