Thank you for your response, here are the answers to your questions:
Is the idling speed similar when A.C is turned "on" or "off"?
A) Yes, I cannot be sure how close though because I don't have a tachometer, however I don't recall a rise in RPM.
Does the noise disappear when idling is increased slightly?
A) It seems to fade away when idling is increased slightly, though if I listen closely I can hear it a little, but just faintly. This is idling only increased by a hair.
My big question is, why does the clutch being pushed in make this noise go away?
I have pretty much resigned myself to this problem being the compressor. With my wife this evening, I had her turn on/off the A/C and push in the clutch. When the A/C was turned off/outside air the compressor quit (and I noticed it was vibrating) and the sound went away completely.
When she pushed the clutch in, the compressor kept spinning however the sound also went away completely. I am really confused as to why the clutch is making this noise go away, unless the transmission makes the same rattle and turning the A/C off makes it go away, too! Which would be just as confusing! (To me anyways).
Any ideas why (clarified question) pushing the clutch in makes the compressor stop knocking?
Sunday, July 12th, 2009 AT 10:24 PM