Sacrificing the AC for more HP?

I was talking to a friend who told me that if I were to disconnect the
AC pump from my belt, I would be able to increase horsepower(because it
sucks 30 hp to run the pump constantly) or thats what he told me
atleast. Is this true? I have a 1994 Silverado Extended Cab. Would I
need to buy a shorter belt to do a modification like this or are there
parts in the car to keep tension on the belt (like a bike)? Thanks for
any advice!
-Matt

proclaimed:
> I was talking to a friend who told me that if I were to disconnect the
> AC pump from my belt, I would be able to increase horsepower(because it
> sucks 30 hp to run the pump constantly) or thats what he told me
> atleast. Is this true? I have a 1994 Silverado Extended Cab. Would I
> need to buy a shorter belt to do a modification like this or are there
> parts in the car to keep tension on the belt (like a bike)? Thanks for
> any advice!

If the A/C is off, it consumes very little horsepower since the clutch
disconnects the drive, so the loss will be close to unmeasurable. If
your A/C has the typical electric clutch, you could just disable it.
You will lose some defrost capability as modern vehicles run the A/C
with the defrost to keep fog off the window. If you then run with
the windows down to cool the interior, highly likely that drag would
be a bigger horsepower loss than the A/C would, but with the
disclaimer the only vehicle I can recall this being tested on was a
4 door sedan. There are better ways to gain horsepower...some of
them may consume several hundred--e.g. the blower on a top fueler.

do you mean the fan that is infront of the engine? As I said, I have a
1994 Silverado...

> wrote in message
oups.com...
> do you mean the fan that is infront of the engine? As I said, I have a
> 1994 Silverado...
>

No the clutch on the A/C compressor. As long as both the A/C and the defrost
is turned off inside the cab the A/C compressor is off, you don't have to do
anything else to disable it.
Unless you're drag racing the truck I wouldn't worry about it anyway, you
already have power to spare.

The idea is completely ludicrous. If you're that starved for horsepower, then there's another problem with the vehicle. Depending
on where you live, you should run the compressor 12 months a year. It keeps the seals from leaking and the system charged.


> wrote in message oups.com...
: I was talking to a friend who told me that if I were to disconnect the
: AC pump from my belt, I would be able to increase horsepower(because it
: sucks 30 hp to run the pump constantly) or thats what he told me
: atleast. Is this true? I have a 1994 Silverado Extended Cab. Would I
: need to buy a shorter belt to do a modification like this or are there
: parts in the car to keep tension on the belt (like a bike)? Thanks for
: any advice!
: -Matt
:

You could get a power pulley,The pulley is smaller in diameter and
speeds up the accesories and has less drag on the flywheel.

You can get the pulleys for the A/C,Alternator,power steering pump and
the Flywheel pulley as well.

Theres another product that came out last year that connects to your A/C
wiring and when you have your a/c on and and you get on the gas it cuts
power to the compressor motor at a certain RPM so you get better
acceleration and once you drop back down to a certain rpm it kicks back
on.Personally I feel all of these things can free up some power but I
dont think you'll gain much from removing the A/C system,certainly not
enough to warrant sacrificing comfort in the summer.I for one would be
more than happy if I had a/c in my 4x4. Good Luck!!

>I was talking to a friend who told me that if I were to disconnect the
>AC pump from my belt, I would be able to increase horsepower(because it
>sucks 30 hp to run the pump constantly) or thats what he told me
>atleast. Is this true? I have a 1994

They have an electric clutch on the pulley, when your ac is not switched on
the clutch is not engaged , so there should be little or no difference in belt
on pulley or no belt on pulley.
MLM