Serpentine belt without AC

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Mackenzie

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Hey guys,
Figured out today I have a bad bearing in my ac compressor pulley.
Can anyone tell me what size belt I would need if I wanted to bypass my ac compressor pulley on a 1999 Ram 2500 5.9?

I was advised that purchasing a bypass pulley would be the easier route than try to find the correct size belt,so I purchased one today, however, I think would rather just swap out the belt at this point.

I apologize if this question already has a thread.
 

dudeman2009

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Just have the autoparts store look up the belt for a 99 Ram 2500 5.9L without A/C. then route the belt as the diagram for w/o A/C shows.

You are looking at an 89 or 88in belt. Depending on how its labeled.
 
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Mackenzie

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Yeah that was my original plan, but when I got to Napa they said the belt that was coming up on there parts list wouldn't necessarily fit properly? They ended up convincing me the pulley was the way to go but I just don't want to get into removing the ac compressor unit at the point.

I measured without ac,using a string to size th belt and got around 87, so I'm guessing 88 would do the trick.

Is it possible to replace the bearing on the ac compressor pulley or would I have to replace the entire unit??
 

Gr8bawana

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I tried putting the belt for a 2nd gen truck without AC on for someone when the AC froze up.
The belt fits but the pully for the AC rubs on the back of the belt. The AC compressor needs to be moved out of the way by about 1 inch.
 

dudeman2009

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Gr8bawana is right, you will need to either pull the AC pulley or unbolt it and move it out of the way.

As far as I know, the only two things you can replace on the AC units are the clutch and the whole pump, no bearing replacement without replacing the pump.

Personally, I wouldn't pull the AC, especially if the AC system still works and its just a bad bearing. The last thing you are going to want to do is depressurized the system. Even though it will lose pressure when the AC compressor is replaced, there will be near zero chance that something gets in and contaminates the system. At atmospheric pressure, that chance rises some.
 
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dapepper9

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The problem with using tune non-ac belts are the non-ac trucks had a different alternator bracket with the idler pulley in a slightly different spot. That's why they don't fit. They don't fit unless you somehow managed to stretch the ****** over which i HIGHLY discourage. You can take the length of time non-ac belt and add about a 1/4-1/2 inch and fit or for the same price get the bypass pulley and not worry about hoping it works. My $0.02 from actually doing all this
 
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Mackenzie

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Thanks for all the advice guys, very much appreciated! The A/C still works great. Im thinking replacing th clutch is the way to go. The cost of a clutch vs a complete ac unit seems pretty much the same, there will be significantly less labor involved in installing a new clutch and as mentioned above I wouldnt have to mess with the lines. Thoughts?
 

dudeman2009

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Thanks for all the advice guys, very much appreciated! The A/C still works great. Im thinking replacing th clutch is the way to go. The cost of a clutch vs a complete ac unit seems pretty much the same, there will be significantly less labor involved in installing a new clutch and as mentioned above I wouldnt have to mess with the lines. Thoughts?

As long as its just the clutch bearing that's going bad, sure, I see no reason not to. However, if it makes noise only when your AC is on, you will need to replace the compressor.
 

jimmyjames

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I just ran across this thread because I have the same problem. My A/C bearing started going bad this weekend. The belt that the auto stores will pull up for the the 5.9L engine without AC is 88.5 inch interior circumference. If you have A/C and are just trying to bypass the pulley this belt size is too small.

After some trial and error I found you need a 90 inch interior belt. On my '97 1500 the belt can bypass the A/C pulley without touching it, but that may be different on other models. I used the Duralast 900K7 belt at Autozone. It's a cheap belt and will keep me driving until I can get around to fixing the A/C clutch and bearing.
 

Yeret

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If you have an A/C truck, DO NOT try to use a non-A/C belt as it is too short. I learned this the hard way when I removed my compressor.

I used either a 90 or a 90.5 inch belt, can't remember which off-hand. All I know is it fit perfectly.

Oh, just realized this is an old topic. Good information though for those who want to bypass or flat out remove the A/C compressor.
 

dapepper9

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90" works perfect i just did the same 2 weeks ago. Just pull the compressor and go 90" you'll be gold
 
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