1989 Oldsmobile Eighty Eight. the Air Conditioner Clutch is defunct and makes a grinding sound. Is there a way to disable the clutch (giving up the air conditioning function) and retain the necessary belt design that powers other functions?? I need to find a less expensive way to keep this car in service (only 59,0000 miles young). I have been informed by the mechanic that the AC clutch & accumulator must be replaced to put this back on the road even if I could do with out AC because of the design of the belt mechanisms. What do you think? is there a way to solve this problem with a different approach?? Many Thanks!

Yes you can measure all the Other belts Without including the AC belt with a piece of string. Go around the pulleys like the belt does pull the end of the string to the top pulley so you can see both ends of the string then overlap the string and mark the string with a pencil or ink pen then Measure with a tape measure all the way around the string. Take the mesuremnetr and write it down, If you don't have a way to mesure it tie the string together and take it to the auto parts store and ask For a belt that long and they can give you the right size belt. Leave old Belt on untill your ready to put it on. Hope this helps and Thanks for using fix-ya.