Has anyone experienced a sort of grinding pulley noise from the AC? My 99 1.8T currently is hard to turn over even with a strong battery and when it finally starts it sounds like a bad pulley. When I turn the AC on and off it changes the type of noise. The pulley is spinning, but I wonder if there is something not working properly in the AC. It feels to be blowing cold air when turned on. It also feels like there is less power than normal like the pulley is hard to turn.

 

i havea similar problem but mine only happends when its on and when i turn the wheel to the right mine sounds more like a squeeky pully...im thinking maby jsut a pully or blet for me but im not shure

 

It sounds like your aircondensor clutch, which is fried causing metal to metal contact which makes the grinding noise you hear.

 

For you m5racer it sounds like a power steering issue for you, possible low fluid.

 

While we're on the Air Conditionion subject... Mines takes so long to even get cold, sometimes it doesn't get cold at all.

I don't wanna be dumb or anything, but could it be because of my Freeon (SP)level? No idea...

 

it could be any of a number of things. your refrigerant (it's R-134 or something now, they don't use freon anymore) could be low, or your compressor could be on the outs. or you could have a very slow leak somewhere in the piping, or in your condenser. good luck finding that, if it's the case.

 

I took the car to the dealer and of course they want to slap a new A/C in for $1500. They confirmed what I suspectedin that the bearings were shot. The best part is that they told me I couldn't take the belt off as it runs other pulleys in the car. Tells you how smart dealerships are since the A/C is on it's own belt.

Needless to say,I pulled the the clutch/pulley off today and found that the bearings are shot in the pulley. I want to replace the bearings, but the metal around the bearings appears to be "stamped" such that the bearings cannot be removed. Any idea on where I can get just a pulley or the pulley/clutch assembly for a 99 A4? I've been searching a ton of web sites, but they all just want you to pay a ton for a new compressor. My A/C is working fine so I have no need to replace all that. By the way, it takes a special VAG 1719 tool to pop out the clutch, but with a drill press and tap and die set I was able to make my own in an hour. It's cheesy, but worked great.

Thanks!

 

If you ever need used parts here's a reputable salvage yard in Smithton, Pa. He also has an E-bay store.
He usually has about anything you could ask for and his prices are reasonable.

http://www.maroneysforeigncar.com/

 

if its kinda like a sqealing piggy it might just be that your acc belt is loose, i had the same prob with my last car and tried everything to get it quiet, then my neighbor came over and simply took a 17mm socket and breaker bar bent back the tensioner and pulled on the belt and retensioned it, noise was gone.

 

This was more of a grinding metal sounds. Now that I have the pulley out, the bearings are definitely shot. There are quite a few missing ball bearings. I'm just suprised that it's not easier to find way to replace the bearings...