i cranked up my 95 comaro for the first time in a year, put in a new battery and started.
the a/c unit has not worked for years. now,
it is making a bearing noise louder than when
the a/c quit. is it possible to find a shorter belt to bypass the unit? or fork over a grand for a new compressor?
I don’t know the belt routing on your car well enough to say whether or not a shorter belt bypassing the compressor would work. They do make aftermarket pulley kits to use in place of the compressor, but for the cost of the new kit you may be able to buy an entire used compressor.
I would bet that the problem is in the clutch bearing for the compresor. The clutch can be separated from the compressor and replaced for probably less than $100. I had the same problem on my 1978 Oldmobile some years back. One shop wanted to replace the compressor. I unplugged the compressor clutch and the noise continued. The compressor did not have to be removed to replace the clutch.