My ebay purchase 300d came with the usual cliche "AC needs a charge".

I bought the car in September from a guy in Colorado, who used it as his summer driver. The PO claimed he bought the car with non-functional AC and never bothered to fix it because of the climate.

I naturally assumed the worst. Realizing that AC compressor replacements cost more than transmissions (WHY?) my final bid reflected my scepticism.

The winter rolled by and I saved my money up for the paint and AC work. In february, I had the AC checked by an indy who specialized in AC only work. Just for kicks, he converted and filled the very empty compressor and ITS ALIVE!!!

I couldn't believe my good fortune, how does a AC unit non-functional for almost 4 years spring back to life with only a charge AND NOT LEAKING?

Well, the AC worked brilliantly, for 4,000 miles (including a 2000 mile 5 day trip to Texas) until now. Today was a mild 60 degrees and the auto climate control was doing a decent job of maintianing a comfortable cabin. As I was running my usual errands for work, I noticed an intermittent belt squeak. I turned off the radio to listen, then the AC, and OH S#$*. The noise got louder. With the AC back on, the noise was gone. I continued to the rest of my errands and returned to the office. When I turned off the still ice cold AC, the noise was worse and SMOKE!

I'm hoping this is only a bad clutch, perhaps you all can give me comforting words supporting my hypothesis.

I removed the belt to stop any further damage, noise and smoke are now gone. Was that a good idea, or was there another way to stop this from continuing? I could have left the belt and AC on, but every time I started or turned off the engine the horrible noise would return.

The AC miracle is over. How hard is it to replace the clutch?

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1985 500SL Euro w/ AMG bits 130k
1984 300SD Turbodiesel 192k
1980 240D Stick China 188k
2001 CLK55 AMG 101k
2007 S600 Biturbo 149k Overheated Project, IT'S ALIVE!!!