I was on my way home when I heard this clanking noise in the engine compartment. At first I thought it was just some pebbles hitting the underbody of the car. Then I came to a stop and started moving again and I heard the same clanking noise again, so I pulled over and opened the hood and to my surprise the pulley for the A/C compressor fell off and was bouncing around with the other belts and the belt for the A/C compressor was gone. I didn't know what happened at first, so I just pulled my car over, parked it and walked home. It was about 5 blocks away. I know nothing about engines and thought that somehow there was MAJOR damage done to the engine and I was scared to drive. This was on Sunday, so there were no mechanics opened. I'd figure I'd just leave my car there over night and wait until the next morning to push the car to the shop. Remember, I did not know that it was the A/C compressor pulley that came off. And I didn't know that it was driveable. I was upset because I just bought the car about a month ago and had a full tune up including changing the water pump, the fuel filter, spark plugs, spark plug wires, distributor cap and all the belts. And now this happens. So as I was outside my house mowing the lawn, my neighbor asked what happened to my car. So I told him. Lucky he had some knowledge on engines but he's not a mechanic. So, I told him the problem and he went with me to take a look at the car. He noticed that the pulley that came off was the one that ran the A/C compressor but he was unsure. So, he had told me to start the engine to see if it would run and to turn on the A/C to see if it's working. And what do you know, the A/C does not work. Then I drove the car home and parked back in front of my house. The next morning, I went to a mechanic near my home and told him my problem. Without looking at the car, he told me that it will cost about $600, just for the A/C compressor. Lucky for me, the mechanic was cool and asked if I had anything done to the car recently. And I told him that I had a full tune up. He told me that in all his years as a mechanic, he had never seen or heard of a A/C pulley just falling off. Then, he told me to take it back to my mechanic, which I did. The reason why I didn't take it back to my own mechanic in the first place is because my mechanic is about 40 miles away. To make a long story short, I brought it back to my mechanic and I guess he knew that he had forgotten to tighten the bolt to the pulley when he re-installed the belts. And ordered the new parts for me. Now I am without A/C for a day or 2 until the parts come in. At least he will not charge me.

What I have noticed from this experience is that I am getting better MPG due to the fact that the compressor is not running.

Well, just thought I'd write about this since I have some time on my hand.

 

Lucky that your mechanic fessed up and stood by his work. I always seem to find the ones that say.."hey, not my problem."

 

Wow, great story--and a good opportunity to check some new things out:

1. Fill your car up now and keep track of your mileage until you have the AC fixed and can use it again. It'd be interesting to see how much your MPG is improved. I'd appreciate this.

2. Here's a chance to learn a bit more about cars if you want to. The first time I learned about belts was one broke on my 72 Corolla years ago. I walked to a local gas station, got a generic belt, but it on and still couldn't get it to work until I actually had to screw around with it for an hour or so--but I learned a lot about cars in that hour, particularly that they're really not that hard to figure out, and sometimes you just need to use a crowbar! (Actually, my big fear when I work on my car is that I'll use TOO MUCH force on something and break it--i've found that's rarely the case.)

Anyway, good luck, and let us know what happens.