1996 GMC Sierra Air Compressor Clicking

Why does my air conditioner compressor engage and click loudly when heater is on.

ProTech:
The A/C compressor will run when you have the heater on defrost to take the moisture out of the air in your car. If it did not run, you would have water running down the inside of your windshield. This is a normal condition.

What would be causing the clicking noise from the compressor.

The clicking you hear is the engagement of the clutch on the front of the compressor. It is normal as well. If it seems excessively loud, you might want to get it looked at.

It is excessively loud so if the clutch is going bad does that mean the compressor as a whole needs to be replaced
.
That depends on your particular compressor…on some models the clutch can be replaced separately, other times you need to replace the entire compressor.

I’ts on a 1996 GMC Sierra.

Ok, you can replace just the clutch assembly on your vehicle. If there is any other damage, or metal that has gotten into the system, you will need a whole compressor.

Thanks.

GMC Alternator

1991 GMC 1500 2wd 4.3l v6. Trying to remove the aluminum alternator / power steering pump bracket. The last bolt to get is a male Torx head bolt that won’t come out. Any suggestions?

I’d recommend using a penetrating oil like PB Blast or WD40 and let it soak for a while, then try again. If that doesn’t work you may need to apply some heat to the area to loosen things up.

A little back story. I needed to replace the left side exhaust manifold (****** to exhaust system rusted and broke off. In order to remove the old manifold, I had to remove the black formed steel bracket that is attached to the front two exhaust manifold bolts/studs, which meant I had to remove the power steering pump, which in order to do that, I had to remove the cast aluminum bracket. Am I going about my repair in the correct manner? Are you familiar with the cat aluminum alternator/ps pump bracket I am referring to???

Yes and yes.

Thank you for “peace of mind”. This has been a a challenging repair to say the least. Thanks.

No problem at all, have a great night.

1998 Chevy Pickup A/C Compressor

I cant get power from the ac controls to the compressor. The relays check good and have jumpered the relay so the compressor will engage. The light in the recurculate button stays on all the time and the light on the ac button doesnt come on, but has worked before without the light. Swapped out the control panel but still cant get power from panel to relay telling compressor to cycle off & on. any suggestions???

You might want to check for a wiring issue to the control head. If swapping control heads didn’t help, but you can manually jump it so the compressor works, there has to be a problem somewhere in between, most likely a wiring problem. You’d have to trace the circuits and look for any shorts, or chaffed/rubbed through wires.