[Chrysler300] a/c compressor/bearing

[John Nowosacki <jsnowosacki@xxxxxxxxx>]

Hello Group, and Happy Easter,
I took the occassion to drive my Hurst back from my mom's in CT so I would
have it this spring in MA for soon to be cruising weather.
Made it the almost 200 mile journey home, but just as I was approaching
said destination, a sudden squealing of belts accompanied by the typical
smoke and smell and I was over to the side of the road.  It appears that
the compressor idler bearing? (if there is such a thing) had seized, as the
belts were burning around the compressor, which was no longer turning.
Mind you, I had just driven almost 200 miles without touching any buttons
on the heater/defroster/ air conditioner, as it was about a 60 degree day
and there was no need for any climate control assistance in the cabin of
the car.  The off button was depressed as it had been since the beginning
of the trip.
My thought was that if the clutch was not energized, there must be some
bearing that just 'idles' to keep tension on the alternator for charging
purposes, but nothing more.
The Alternator rotates freely, and it was mid afternoon and only a few
miles from home, so driving home the rest of the way with no charging
taking place was not an issue after recharging the battery on a 2 hour
drive at highway speeds.
However, I also thought that if such a bearing were to seize, that is
should probably work the same as if the clutch suddenly became engaged and
the compressor would start turning/running, even though no electricity was
being applied to the clutch.
This is not what happened, as the entire clutch/pully assembly simply
stopped turning and burned up the belts.
I took out the center bolt and removed the pully and keyway, and then
removed the 3 small socket head cap screws that hold the energizing coil.
I'll taked them to my local a/c guy tomorrow for analysis.  Since the
system is fully charged, I'm not sure if I should be able to turn the
compressor by hand/pliers or not, and didn't want to mar the keyshaft, so I
have not tried to turn the compressor.
Any ideas as to what may have happened?
I'm hoping I can just change a bearing inside the pulley and put things
back together, but I'm not sure.  Any suggestions appreciated as I am more
familiar with the style compressor/clutch on my 57 and 61 cars.
This Hurst only had around 66K on it, so it may very well be an original
compressor.
Thanks for the help,


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