Hi all,

This year has unfortunately seen very few trips (but plenty of in town
running around) and has been decent weather. But now, now it is hot,
and my formerly ice cold ac makes a distressing sound which seems to
transmit through my fillings.

So I grabbed the Bentley and skimmed the archives, figured out where
the compressor is, had Cindy fire up the engine while I watched and
there was the noise. Great, found it, right where I was looking. Only
I don't really know what the heck I'm looking at, or what I should be
looking for. So here are some questions and I hope you can lead me to
the path of a forehead-slapping simple fix as well as school me in the
ways of the AC.

This is an '89 manual trans with factory air, in pretty good condition. 

*The clutch part spins merrily - should it? I'm a newb and am not sure
based on the Bent nor do I have the foggiest idea how this works. The
clutch part actually seems slightly crusty but not ancient.

*There's a quarter-moon type casing between say, 7 and 2 oclock (going
from memory) and it has a bit of oily smear on either side. Normal?
Sign of impending doom? Otherwise the compressor and area is not
unduly wet, dirty, nor show other signs of leaking.

*Not that I'd know what a bad ac smells like, but there's no weird
smell - and I know how my engine smells when running happily.

*The belt is in good condition and at a tension that doesn't seem
loose or overly cranked.

*There's no crazy shaking or other visible signs of distress in that area. 

Thanks for any help gang,

-Julia
'89 Westy
Trip archives at http://www.wanderwagen.com