I took a closer look at the noise (clacking) at idle.
It seems to be loudest around the A/C compressor.

My Runner has about 67k miles on it.

It would be odd for the compressor to start giving out this early.

Any ideas?

J

 

What does a water pump that's going south sound like?

There's a bit of grinding noise coming from the a/c compressor or water pump area.

J

 

Remove one drive belt at a time untill you get the noise to stop. That should answer your question.

Jay

 

It's definitely from the AC compressor.

The noise disappeared before my road trip (1200+ miles) over the winter break. I found out on the road trip that the AC belt had shredded apart. No wonder I couldn't hear the noise anymore. Fortunately, heat was in need more than AC on the snowboard trip.

Before I replace the belt, I'd like to know what may be wrong with the AC compressor. It's chattering and it may be the magnetic clutch. If so, can I rebuild it and how difficult is the rebuild?

AC compressors are not cheap.

J