2000 Elantra, ~205k miles. This is my mom's car that I've been fooling with these past few years trying to get some more years and mileage out of it.

For about the past year the car has been making a horrible squealing noise for a few seconds when the a/c is turned on. At first I figured it was the idler pulley so last year I replaced the idler pulley (and the belt since I was already in there) which did not fix the issue. My mom has just lived with it ever since. A/C still works perfectly other than the noise.

Its now getting so bad that it's downright embarrassing for my poor mom driving down the street sounding like this. Over the winter it wasn't an issue since she didn't need the A/C but she needs it now as it's summer time in Texas. It does this when the compressor is engaged. The noise does eventually go away (I'm guessing as it warms up). A/C still blows cold/works properly aside from the horrible noise it makes. You can see it does it consistently when the compressor is engaged and immediately goes away when disengaged. Here's two videos I took of it:



Any ideas? Anybody had anything like this happen? Compressor clutch bearing? Is this serviceable on the car? Looks awfully close to the frame rail.

 

Now that I read a bit more about it, I'm thinking it has to be the clutch or bearing. I never really knew this, but apparently when the coil is activated it magnetizes the whole thing and in turn essentially pulls the clutch toward/against the pulley. If I'm understanding correctly, since this noise occurs when the the compressor is engaged (and thus when the clutch is pulled toward the pulley) that means there must be some friction or something between them causing the noise.

I found a kit on eBay for $100ish that includes a new compressor clutch, bearing, and coil. Problem is I'm not sure if that would all be replaceable on the car or if I need some special Hyundai tool(s) to remove the clutch? That'd be my main concern. I don't want to have to fool with opening the system and having to recharge it and account for compressor oil loss and all that crap.