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[Humpy]

As the title suggests the SWMBO's Elite has developed a squeaky air con compressor. We haven't had the car long and the air cons never worked but the general consensus of opinion amongst those that know is that if it's out of gas it won't do anything! Meantime in the last couple of days it's developed this little mouse in an excercise wheel type squeak. Do they do this? Is it on it's way out? Should I get the air con gassed in case this is doing the compressor harm?

Interestingly, we compared the compressor with two other V6 Omega's. On SWMBO's car the centre of the compressor pulley stays still, as it does on mine, but my mates car the centre of the compressor slowly spins with the outer. Both these car's air con works ok though! What should happen, should it stay still or rotate freely?

Thanks in advance.

Humpy

[Marks DTM Calib]

If aircon is on, the centre should turn, if off (or out of gas) it should not turn.

[Humpy]

But the squeek? Good or bad!!

Humpy

[Turk]

Check the bolt in the centre of the compressor clutch. It may be loose and allowing the clutch to slip slightly. If it's loose, I'd undo it and put a drop of threadlock on the bolt and refit.
A squirt of WD40 around the pulley spindle wont do any harm either.

[Matchless]

Dont squirt WD around the clutch and pulley area, there are friction linings in there!!

The squeek could be either the friction lining rubbing against the pulley due to clutch drag or the bearings supporting the pulley are worn. If there is play in the pulley then new bearings are needed. It means the compressor has to come out to get the space for the special puller. A/c specialist should be able to fix it.

The clutch is turning slowly because there is some drag in the clutch plate, if you are out of refrigerant then the clutch wont have engaged for some time and there is likely to be a build-up of fine rust / crud on the clutch plate which causes the drag.
Get the a/c leak checked and if OK refilled.

[Turk]

Dont squirt WD around the clutch and pulley area, there are friction linings in there!!

The squeek could be either the friction lining rubbing against the pulley due to clutch drag or the bearings supporting the pulley are worn. If there is play in the pulley then new bearings are needed. It means the compressor has to come out to get the space for the special puller. A/c specialist should be able to fix it.

The clutch is turning slowly because there is some drag in the clutch plate, if you are out of refrigerant then the clutch wont have engaged for some time and there is likely to be a build-up of fine rust / crud on the clutch plate which causes the drag.
Get the a/c leak checked and if OK refilled.

Yes, as I said Pulley spindle, between pulley and compressor.   Having said that, I doubt WD40 would cause any slip when that clutch engages and it would eliminate any clutch drag, but it could allow any crud to clump together.   
The "squeak" or high pitched grinding sound I had was due to the centre bolt having worked slightly loose.
Only found out when the noise stopped...and the a/c stopped working. Clutch plate had gone A.W.O.L 

[Matchless]

The centre bolt is not fully tightened on some types of compressor used on Omegas. The clutch drive plate is a press fit onto the shaft, the nut is a thread lock type, you use a special puller to press the plate onto the shaft until you get the correct clutch clearance (0.6mm??) then the nut is tightened to a lowish torque.
Other types (Delco?) use shims behind the drive plate and as these arnt such a tight fit on the shaft the nut is fully tightened.

[Turk]

Other types (Delco?) use shims behind the drive plate and as these arnt such a tight fit on the shaft the nut is fully tightened.

That sounds like what I have. 

[Humpy]

Got the air con gassed today and it now works (coooold!) and it's stopped squeaking Success!

Humpy