1998 Protege Air compresser problem
 

I have a 1998 Protege. 1.5 l engine. 97,000 miles on it. I bought it new. No repairs until now! Now I have this loud nuts and bolts noise from under the hood. My mechanic showed me the wobbly air compresser belt pulley. It is very wobbly. He's quoting me approx. $200.00 for a new clutch if the housing is not damaged or $ 500.00 for a new compresser. He states we can't just undo the belt and not use the air conditioner because it also controls the power steering? How does this sound to the rest of you? Thanks! Linda

hey, i have that same sound coming from my engine. my 96 LX only has 75000 miles on it and that sound just started a few weeks ago. for me it only makes the nuts and bolts noise between 2500 and 3000 rpm. it is very annoying and loud. when i looked under the hood, i noticed that the sound was concentrated towards the intake manifold (like below it). next time check and try to pinpoint where the sound is coming from and at what times it happens. oh yea, what part of upstate you from cuz i'm currently in Binghamton but i rarely see 2nd gens around here.
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Sunset Boulevard Residence 2 Pattaya

Well, he is right about removing the belt. It does run other important features on your car, like power steering for exaple. But the only way for him to remove it, is to remove everything else also. Well, he could play around with some other belts that might just fit, if you do not want the compressor, but it is going to be a hell of a labor charge for you. I would recommend just to get a new comressor. I know it is a lot money, but its the only way. One thing though, why is he quoting you for a clutch?

air compresser
 

He's thinking of replacing just the clutch in the air compresser, if the air compresser housing has not been damaged.

air compresser
 

Boricua. I'm from the Alexandria Bay area. My noise was intermittent until 2 days ago, very elusive. Then it became non- stop, even while driving. Very noisy. This noise is so loud it can not be ignored. It's up front, near the radiator area , passenger side ,where you see 2 pulleys connected with one belt. The bottom pulley is wobbling very badly and sounds like it will fall off any minute. I stopped driving her once I found out the problem. My brother, who's in Texas {he writes the mechanic repair manuals for a large repair company}, states if the compresser starts throwing metal shavings into the system the repair is closer to $1500.00! You might want to check your noise out a bit sooner than I did!