AC Compressor & Power Steering

Maintenance/Repairs
1

I took my 2000 Mitsubishi Mirage into the shop today because of some issues:

  1. It was making a lot of racket, squealing, grinding, etc. Not Good.
  2. On one occasion, After initial start up, Power steering went out of it and then the car immediately died, but on trying to start it again, it worked fine albeit a bit noisy.

The shop inspected it, and told me my ac compressor had gone wonky, which is unfortunate for my car because the power steering belt wraps around it, and the compressor had to be replaced. They gave me an estimate for 1035.44 . Yikes. I’m a college student. I can’t afford that.

I could care less about the a/c. Would it be possible to take the compressor out, and rig a pully in its place so that the power steering would work?

2

IF
The pulley on the compressor spins freely when the compressor is not on,
You can simply un-plug the compressor so that it will never switch on and away you go.
Parts houses might sell the bracket and pulley in place of the compressor but that request is few and far between so call to check first.

3

You could remove the belt. Measure a replacement belt, by going around only the pulleys you want to use. Then buy a replacement of that size. It should not be seized as Ken says. Remove the plug for the ac compressor clutch and you should be fine.

4

Thanks, I’ll try that. Hopefully I can keep this zombie still running.

5

You can use a cord to make the measurement knfenmore suggests.

One thing to remember as you do this is to be sure you have enough “wrap” around each pully for them to continue to work. With serpentine belts, sometimes removing one component from the path can reduce the amount of wrap and friction felt by another pullley.