PowerbuiltAC Clutch Holding Tool, Service Car Air Conditioner Clutch, Adjustable Pin, Non-Slip Grip Handle, Vehicle Repair - 648980

This tool is a great help!

My 2015 Subaru Forester was having intermittently functioning AC for a while. After finally doing a little internet searching, I found that a loose and slipping AC clutch may be the cause. This wrench should be all that's needed along with a socket to take the front plate off and remove a shim. Now it works as well as any car should work that has 150K miles. This wrench did the trick. (I also bought a feeler gauge to be sure that the gap was in spec.)

While the shape of the pegs isn't ideal for some applications, and the thumb screws that hold them in position are impossible to get tight enough to keep things from moving around under a reasonable amount of torque, I've gotten more than the price worth of use out of this. Not just for AC clutches, but I've even used it to counterhold cam sprockets while removing the bolt. For the price, this is a worthwhile versatile tool to have around to save you from using the wrong tool (vise grips?) or having to make a one-use tool to finish a job.

Worked like a charm. High quality.

If you have ever want to feel like you have been cursed in life, know this.... try replacing a very inaccessible car air conditioning clutch while its still in the car. If you think that the idea of rectal brain surgery sounds like a fun hobby than you don't even want to look at this tool and enjoy. I recommend making life easier and taking the A/C compressor out of the car, but (for me at least) I'd rather not pull the radiator and recharge the air conditioner refrigerant to remove a $0.50 washer shim.As near useless as this tool can be, I was so happy I bought it. I previously used bolts to try and hold the clutch plate so i could get the center bolt out and remove some shims to take out the slack in the magnetic clutch and I wanted to make my life easier......AND this tool did - For the price, buy it.Now, this tool sucks major and this is why. The set screws don't lock at all and so in tight spaces you loose your adjustment... on a bench it might perfect, but in the belly of the beast, it ain't. My fix was a combination of lock washers and finally I just made double sure with super glue (if i need to make a future change I will find a way. Once the screws stopped trying to fill my mind with insanity and blind rage, the tool was useful, but not great.I wish there was different length posts available because as is there is a large gap between the wrench and clutch plate, which makes it hard to fit a socket in a tight space and also it makes the wrench hard to hold in place. At some point I might weld a nut onto the handle or punch out a socket wrench square so I can use another wrench to hold it steady and clear my hand from the work area for the center bolt wrench.Again. A/C clutch job. Buy it. Its cheap junk but half the price a brick and mortar store would charge for the same tool.

This tool will work just fine if your clutch plate has three holes available for this purpose.My 1997 Buick Century 3.1 did not, so I just used large throat vise grip pliers to pinch the assembly together.The replacement clutch plate does have the three holes, so the tool can be used for the installation.Be aware, that this tool is very specific, and is used to hold the clutch plate while you are loosening, or tightening the center post aircraft nut; that is it's ONLY function. You should also line up tool with clutch plate BEFORE you put the clutch plate on the compressor.

The tool is absolutlely worthless if a clutch is in a tight situation which most of them are. If you need to hold the clutch on a bench, then you really don't even need this tool because on a bench you can use almost anything to stop the clutch from rotating when you unscrew the capscrew. The tool could have been of great value if whoever designed the tool would have designed it so that you could use a standard length socket in conjunction with the tool. In other words once the tool is in position to hold the clutch, a standard length socket cannot reach the capscrew so that you can unscrew it. A long socket is too long and interferes with the frame of the car or some other obstruction. Dumb dumb design.

The tool saves you a whole bunch of time when you need to remove the AC clutch and it's only 6 bucks... what more could you ask for?Well constructed, when compared to the similar offerings from my local hardware store (which sells it for over $15)The three points are adjustable. Some older clutch design, for example my wife's mustang does not have holes for the pin to stick in to, but instead I just adjusted the pin to grab on 3 bumps that's sticking out from the outer clutch plate, and it worked well as well.