Thank you all very much for responding to my previous post about the A/C compressor clutch on my '86 240. I was rescuing the vehicle from New Orleans...it did not get wet. I rented a Hertz car on the way down and was planning on loading up the Volvo w/ parents clothes, etc to drive the car back to Huntsville. Dad likes to have the car to putt around town. Anyway...when I arrived in River Ridge (near Kenner) and inspected the car, I found the A/C compressor clutch making a horrible jingle and rattle. The compressor wasn't but about one year old.....it made a worse rattle when the A/C was OFF.

Based on several of you folks' feedback, I decided to cut the A/C belt and run without power steering. The old Volvo did fine. I cruised back home around 75 mph and that car still runs like a top. The freeway driving doesn't demand much steering...so I only noticed the belt missing when pulling into gas stations, etc.

I made the right decision....I would have been worrying the whole way home hearing that A/C clutch....it sounded like a grind whenever the A/C was ON.

Thanks,
Cabbie2169