Bypass AC Compressor with Shorter Belt Leaving Inactive Compressor In Place

Dino1956

Member
I have a 2000 Mazda Protege DX 1.6 *vehicle.

I am trying to bypass the AC without having to take out the AC compressor and by having the belt bypass the compressor.
I thought there was enough clearance to just bypass the compressor without having to physically remove the
compressor but I guess my research was all wrong. Reason being I had a friend come over to do the job
and we could not get the belt I ordered on because I think the AC compressor pulley was in the way.
We loosened the Power Steering Pump so it would swivel and give the belt a bit more slack but it still
was not enough to get the belt on.

The belt I purchased was for my car with no AC.
All the diagrams I found show that there is enough clearance on my model car to leave the AC compressor on.
Are all those diagrams wrong?
 
You could just remove the AC compressor.
Chances are that there is no freon left in the system anyway.

Or maybe just remove the pulley from the compressor.

I just checked my parts car and I have clearance for the shorter belt but it is a 2L engine.
 
It's possible that the power steering pulley and bracket are different for a Protege with no AC.

Perhaps your belt is a bit too short. (If you do actually have clearance from the AC pulley.)

I can see right in there on my car to verify that there is clearance.

 
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Try wrapping a string or cloth tape measure around the pulleys and compare it to the belt you have.

There are different length pulleys available but you need to know the length.
Some people put on underdrive pulleys and need slightly shorter belts.
 
funny and strange story. When we spoke weeks ago you asked me to test for clearance with a flat stick. I did that and it looked like there was definitely clearance. Not a lot but still there Was clearance. Now when I checked today there was no clearance. We only loosened the Power Steering Pump to try and get belt on. What could have changed (moved)? Either that or Im going out of my mind. Just my luck that this would become such a problem.
 
My car
 

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Perhaps when you rotated your power steering pump the pulley rolled in the way and you lost clearance??
There's quite a bit of movement on the power steering pump. (on my car anyway)
 
We had hardly any movement at all. Maybe a quarter inch movement tops.
We kept on thinking it should move more but it never did.
We loosened all 3 bolts on it also. Still not much movement.
 
If you loosen bolt B, the pump should pivot down to give you clearance for the belt.

 
My clearance looks nothing like yours. You have plenty of clearance. I do not. Open Attached Photo.
 

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Your picture is from a different angle.
Mine was from the front looking down.

Did you turn the adjuster bolt all the way to fit the belt on?
It should pivot the whole pump until the belt fits on then tighten it up again and it should clear the AC pulley.
 
Did you fully loosen (or even remove) adjuster bolt C?

The belt should fit on even if it's clipping the AC pulley.

Unless our diagrams are wrong and the 1.6L is different.
 
The red arrow is the angle of my picture.

I think the blue arrow was your angle

 
To be honest my friend did all the work. So I'm not sure we loosened "B" on diagram. That would explain why it did not move.
I think we loosened it but it did not swivel much al all. We tried to use force and only moved like a quarter inch.
After looking at the diagram I now see there is plenty of play for it to swivel much more than we got it to swivel.
That amount may have definitely allowed the belt to go on even if it rubbed on the compressor pulley and had no clearance.
The belt would have still been able to go on.
The adjuster "C" only moved slightly and he said he loosened the bolts as far as they could go without pulling them out.
Yes my Photo was taken directly from top not a side view.
 
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Loosen adjuster C until it unthreads from B then the PS pump will push all the way down giving more clearance.
 
This is my rusty adjuster C.



You may just need enough clearance to get over the lip of the pulleys.
 
Thank you for all your help my friend. I had my friend for the 3 hours that we tried and we just got very little swivel movement from the Power Steering Pump.
We also did everything from the top of the car as he had no means to lift my car or put it up and work from underneath.
But I see guys all over YouTube do it all from the top with no problems.
Going to NY for a week. When I come back, I will find another Mechanic who is mobil and just maybe I'll be lucky enough for him to show up.
For something so simple, this has become a nightmare.
 
Update: There is not enough clearance on my model Protege' to just put a shorter Power Steering belt on.
You must take the clutch, pulley and the Coil completely off to get clearance. Much bigger job.
I finally had it done and belt is on and running fine.
 
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