I've found a few posts about the clutch but no ' how to ' instructions.

My repair manuals on the computer no longer function and the websites I've used before for repair info no longer function.

Any help appreciated.

The clutch bearing is very noisy but not loose. Very catchy when turned by hand. AC is functioning good.

These are really hard to change in situation. I’ve tried and after hours on my back with various types of ring pliers I gave up and pulled the compressor altogether. Ended up breaking a part of it anyways and had to go with an all new compressor

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Current fleet
2006 E320 CDI
1992 300D - 5speed manual swapped

former members
1984 300D "Blues Mobile"

1978 300CD "El Toro"

Thanks for the quick reply.

That is good to know. I'm also finding the clutch assembly is also pricey and sometimes rebuilt. I'm going to order a Denso compressor and a Mahle drier. I'm hoping the Denso part # is 4711228 about $288 with tax and the Mahle is for Mercedes part 1248300283 about $30.

Still looking for installation instructions since my computer access is gone due to ' flash ' no longer supported. Also couldn't get 124performance.com to work for the same reason.

w124performance is up for me. in case you have a bad link here is what works for me.

https://w124performance.com/service/Index/605_606index.html

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Treetops
06 E320 CDI 127K Miles
87 300TD 231K Miles

99 E300 269K Miles-Sold

I don't know the E300D, but I think a Denso compressor means a swashplate type, like a Sanden SD7. The compressor in my 1996 Plymouth is a Denso, and likely similar inside, with just different mounting holes. The trick to removing the clutch is that you must have an impact wrench, since otherwise the innards will just spin (no way to secure them). My center bolt (10 mm hex I recall) has left-hand threads, so set the impact to "forward" or "screw in". With bolt out, you can pull out the outer disk w/ splined hub. Don't loose the shim washers (if any) since they set the air gap. Clean the innards good and you will see a circlip which attaches the pulley (w/ bearing) to the housing. At that point, you could just replace the bearing, which is fairly standard (double ball-bearing ~$25 ebay), if you have a shop press. The magnet attaches w/ 4 bolts.

It isn't hard to rebuild the innards, but all you will be changing is the shaft seal. A bunch of plates are on each side of the cylinder center section. They only fit in one way, so almost no way to mess up, except a rebuilder for the Denso in my 2002 Chrysler did by putting 2 thin flapper plates, stuck together, on one side and none on the other. It still worked, but noisy and not well (backer plate served for a time as a flapper, leaving witness marks on it from the ports). I tore my 1996 apart for forensics and practice. It was seized. One aluminum piston had worn off the black anodizing which made it gall on the aluminum cylinder, at ~180K miles. If you get more life than that, consider it lucky.

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1984 & 1985 CA 300D's
1964 & 65 Mopar's - Valiant, Dart, Newport
1996 & 2002 Chrysler minivans

Thanks ' treetops & BillGrissom ',

The link to w124performance worked and I was able to read the ' how to ' for either AC clutch work or replacing the compressor.

Thats a good writeup on the bearing replacement.

I did some searching for a shorter belt to bypass my failing compressor. Found a recent part number for a belt but couldn[t find it in the the USA. Finally found a cross reference so I'll temporarily install a belt " 820K6 " that is supposed to be the correct length to skip the compressor clutch.

This will hopefully give me a few weeks to source parts and plan the work. Luckily it's spring and liveable temperature.

I could save a lot of money by just replacing the bearing in the compressor, but think it's best to do a little more work and hopefully make the car reliable for quite a few more years.

Planning to R & R the:

Compressor about $270 for new Denso
Dryer receiver $28 to $50 Mahle or Mercedes
water pump and thermostat - have new spares
clean the condensor coil and check the AUX fans
change the fan and fan clutch to later model better ones - have new spares
change the belt tensioner pulley - have new spare
take the alternator to local ' low cost ' shop for new bearings and regulator
replace one way pulley - will use INA again, Gates too pricey
grease the tensioner pivot bolt via the zert installed previously with special lubricant
Install new Gates 'RPM suffix' belt hoping for long reliable life

Posting the full list in case someone else might want to do something similar. Will edit in the future with part numbers as I come accross them.

If the bearing is noisy, just replace that bearing its very straightforward. Im doing a lot of such repair jobs post covid supply situation.

Its a unit used in a lot of toyotas too and I think century air sell the nose seal, seal washers, case rings and valve plate too.

I replaced the entire clutch unit on my W210 because it burnt the built in fuse - yours is a plain field coil. The bearing is easy to replace even with hammers/mallets and some plumbing hardware as arbors.

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2012 BMW X5 (Beef + Granite suspension model)

1995 E300D - The original humming machine (consumed by Flood 2017)
2000 E320 - The evolution (consumed by flood 2017)

I agree that would be the fastest and less costly repair plus provide a good clutch assembly for the compressor.

I've decided to spend about a week, hopefully in March, to do several things including the new Denso compressor that I ordered yesterday from Walmart.com of all places.

I've read it's not unexpected to have an AC compressor fail before 200,000 miles. I expect to go past 150,000 this year.

Hoping to reduce my future work plus make the car more reliable and less noisy. It's unreal how much growling noise the worn clutch bearing makes plus I can feel a little ' catching ' when I turn the water pump pulley by hand.

I had a compressor go on my 99, lots of racket, grinding them finally a bit of smoke. Anyway I did find that the NAPA 6pk2082 was a suitable sized belt to bypass the compressor.

It will still spin the compressor pulley some because it doesn’t fully clear but worked for the short time it was on. It allowed me to drive without further damage and heat in the cabin. That, rust and other issues helped me decide to sell the old lady.

HTH

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Treetops
06 E320 CDI 127K Miles
87 300TD 231K Miles

99 E300 269K Miles-Sold

I've had the compressor magnetic clutch/pulley bearing needing replacement on a 96 E50 and 01 CLK320. Both were compressor-out to do the job.

Servicing the pulley/clutch/bearing was straightforward. It was basic hand tools and a 3-jaw puller IIRC, but would be difficult in situ because of space.

Did not need to do shaft seals in both cases.

I may have a clutch assembly from my old 190D. If you're interested, I'll try to hunt it up.

Mxfrank,

Thanks for the offer but the car is my daily driver and I try to make it long term reliable.

Due to my worry about the old compressor failing fairly soon I'll install a new Denso compressor. Regrettably the internet shows two different part numbers for my 95 E300.

I believe the correct one is the one I ordered but about a 1/3 of the websites show a different Denso number.

I installed a shorter belt this afternoon. Regrettably on my car the back of the belt puts a lot of force on the AC clutch pulley below it and causes it to rotate backward. I'm concerned that if the compressor was accidentally turned on the compressor itself would turn backwards and probably damage the AC system. I'd hate to get lots of metal fragments into the freon.

I'll be putting the old longer belt back on tomorrow.

So, I'll have to move my replacement of the compressor to the next few days instead of 3-4 weeks.

I spent a bit more time thinking about how to gain clearance so the shorter belt would not rub the top of the AC compressor pulley.

It took a few trials and ' didn't works ' before I was successful.

Pictures attached show what worked. Basically remove mounting bolts. Front two bolts and top rear & save for future install. For the rear bottom bolt, unscrew it, pull the AC compressor down to gain room. Place a flat washer and a M8-1.25 nut on the threads of that mounting bolt. Push the AC compressor up and tighten that bolt while pulling down on the pulley of the AC compressor. Be careful and don't cross thread the mounting bolt. You'll have to eyeball the bolt alignment and it's easy to cross thread the aluminum mounting bracket.

Also, make sure the electrical plug is not rubbing the serpentine belt. It is very, very, close to the belt.

I used the nut on the bolt in an attempt to lock the bolt to the mounting bracket. Hoping that will keep any movement of the compressor from loosening the bolt.

Long term I'd get a slightly longer bolt to have more threads into the mounting bracket.

Attached Thumbnails

   

After watching this video, I think I'll try to replace the AC clutch bearing. Hopefully just a small bit of time and probably about $20 for a new bearing. Hoping it goes as easy as the one in the video.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wVQxRXUUUb4