Bypassing the AC compressor with a shorter serpentine belt

Technical info on the Pontiac Vibe and Toyota Matrix including do-it-yourself info
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btbrightside
Posts: 1
Joined: Sun Oct 22, 2017 2:49 pm

Bypassing the AC compressor with a shorter serpentine belt

Post by btbrightside »

Hello fellow GenVibers!

I thought I'd post my experience in here as I saw no history of the same experience, so if someone deals with this in the future that they will know this is an option!

I drive a 2005 Vibe, about 90,000km on it. I bought it in the fall of 2017, with the only issue being that it had no AC.

I was okay with this, as it is my first vehicle, and I can tolerate the heat with the windows rolled down. So my compressor, despite not working, was still being used as essentially just a stationary extra pulley.

A couple mornings ago I noticed a chirping sound, and assumed it was coming from the serpentine belt. I diagnosed the problem to likely be the AC compressor pulley bearing, but assumed I could still drive it to work that day and fix it the next. Unfortunately my car began to smoke out of the hood on the way to work, and I totally ruined the clutch on the compressor.

Brought it to the shop and they wanted to replace the compressor completely and get me started on the full A/C repair, which I wasn't interested in spending 1500+ for...so I brought up the idea of buying a shorter belt and entirely bypassing the compressor.

They originally said it was not possible, I found that there was no reason why it wouldn't be (as there were early versions of the corolla that never had A/C). So I told them I would do the repair myself if they weren't willing to.

Long story short, the belt (part #5060605) works awesome! If anything goes wrong with your compressor and you aren't ready to make the A/C repair this is a great shortcut to use to simply bypass the compressor! You can look this up online and there are diagrams for this exact set up.

Hope that may help someone else!
SeattleJeremy
Posts: 1170
Joined: Mon Jun 05, 2006 4:02 pm
Location: Tacoma, WA

Re: Bypassing the AC compressor with a shorter serpentine belt

Post by SeattleJeremy »

Great write up thanks!
*Sold* 06' Vibe Base - Mono Platinum - Manual
Turo'ing 15' BMW 328i Sport - Jet Black - Auto
Daily 19' Toyota Camry SE Hybrid - Galactic Aqua Mica - eCVT
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