1997 lesabre a/c compressor bypass?

My brother in laws 97 lesabre with the 3800 engine has had the a/c compressor lock up on it. Can he just purchase a shorter belt and bypass it or will he need to get the bypass pulley kit? He just needs to get it driveable asap so he can get to work. Thanks.

Sorry but you're stuck with a bypass pulley kit or replacing the compressor. Because of the design of the serpentine drive belt system and component/pulley layout a shorter belt won't work. Link below has pulley bypass kits:

Click here (http://www.1aauto.com/1A/ACBypassPulley/Buick/LeSabre)

Out of curiosity is the A/C clutch locked up or just the compressor part?

I haven't seen it with my own eyes yet so I'm going off what he told me over the phone. I know the a/c stopped working on it a few weeks ago and they had been driving it until this morning. He said he could smell what he thought was the belt burning on the way to work and he gave me a call. I probably won't be able to look at it till late tonight or tomorrow morning to be absolutely sure exactly whats going on with it. Ive never had a compressor fail and not be able to just leave it turned off and drive it so I told him I wasn't sure if it was possible for it to still drag on the belt or not but if it was we could look into bypassing it.

Ive never had a compressor fail and not be able to just leave it turned off and drive it so I told him I wasn't sure if it was possible for it to still drag on the belt or not but if it was we could look into bypassing it. If this is in fact the compressor, tell him to turn the A/C OFF! Now, if the pulley bearing is going bad, this will not help. If the pulley bearing is beginning to lock-up, it will cause the belt to slip and eventually destroy the belt! :crying:

Yep, it's the bearings. Gonna pick up a new belt and bypass pulley today. :thumbsup:

Be sure to get one for the 1997-05 LeSabre V6 3.8L 231ci (Vin 'K') that has the three bolt mount bracket. Dorman Part #: 34196. Looks like the one below!
http://img257.imageshack.us/img257/9559/9705lesabreacdeletemy6.jpg