00 civic air conditioner pulley-can i do it myself?

[hvicki37]

My car started squealing and when I look down at the three belts the pulley that runs the air conditioner belt is hanging at approx. 45 degree angle - i am going to attemp to get in there and tighten it back onto the assembly and hope for the best. However, if I need to replace the entire pulley and belt is this something anyone thinks I can do by myself. I have replaced my own fender and I can replace the belts and pulleys on our lawn tractor so I do have a little bit of an idea of what I might need to do. Any advise would be appreciated. Also, what should that pulley cost? I was told approx. $300 and that it would have to be ordered through the dealer. The other option I was told that is safe to do is just cut the a/c belt - of course that means no a/c but the car should still run and run quietly.

 

[AllStockHatch]

You should be able to do it yourself.

 

[RonJ]

Are you talking about the small idler pulley, compressor pulley, or large crankshaft pulley?

 

[hvicki37]

Hi again RonJ- it is definitely the pulley that operates the a/c -i believe that is the compression pulley- right near the transmission dipstick - i managed to get my hands in there and pull the pulley back and i retightened the bolt that goes down (if you know what i mean) - it made the squealing stop and the pulley is almost back into its correct position but I obviously didn't do it tight enough because after driving for about an hour it is slowly coming back - i only hand tightened it so i would think using a power tool will get it tighter and make it stay in place longer -

 

[RonJ]

Middle top pulley in the diagram, right? That's called the idler pulley. You need to remove the splash guard and PS belt to access the center nut of the idler pulley, which seems to be loose. It's near the engine oil dipstick not the transmission oil dipstick, which is on the other side of the engine, if you have an automatic transmission.