I have a 2003 Ford Taurus and it make noises when the air conditioner is being used? It's a rattle.?

Question

it rattles bad and all the time

Answer 1

TENSIONER pulley.
its an assembly that keeps pressure on the belt so it wont fall off.when it looses tension ... - the spring wears out.

Answer 2

i have to laugh at some of the answers posted on this site, probably is the belt tensioner, cant be the a/c pump coil or the a/c would not work, you said it rattles all the time with the a/c off i bet too, the spring in the tensioner is probably weak making the noise, also the the dampner pulley might be failing, they make a rattle noise when they are going bad, you need to pinpoint the noise, you can sometimes watch the tensioner and see it jump with the noise and sometimes the tensioner will be in an angle causing uneven wear on the belt

Answer 3

depends upon the rattle and where it's coming from...

Most were talking about a rattle from outside the car....

Sometimes we will hear rattles coming from the fan inside the car (Does noise sound decrease when you turn the fan down? If yes, it's probably inside... if no, probably outside)

Weve had kids put all kind of loose change and stuff in the a/c to make noise.. sometimes plastic bags get caught in the fresh air intake at the bottom of the dash and will cause noises as it hits the fan.... Some of these (actually taurus and sable of this vintage is famous for this) actually collect water near the fan and the fan hits the water making weird noises also (before they burn up)..

Answer 4

I agree with lee. The pulley on the a/c comp. contains an electric operated clutch and it is probably in need of some work. I would advise not using the a/c till you get it checked out.

Answer 5

clutch assembly on the unit under the hood.